Behind the Darkness
by Naela
Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and the Keyblade Master is needed, but no one seems to know where he is... How are Riku and Kairi a part of this and who is this warrior who looks just like Sora? Pairings: ? Ch. 16 up!
1. This City

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

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** Chapter One: This City. . . **

  


Rain.

How he hated the rain.

Funny thing was that he was stuck in a world that seemed to rain endlessly. There was no stopping the tiny water droplets from falling. They fell from the sky and gathered on the ground in tiny and sometimes not-so-tiny puddles. Along with getting wet, the rain was also noisy; it pattered on the windows of cars and dripped into the puddles. To Riku, this pattering and dripping sounded as loud as a beating drum and muffled all other sounds, making it dangerous for a blindfolded man to walk without having his other senses heightened.

It was hard to tell when the sun had set--he only knew that it was dark. There was a surprising lack of life in the city, its citizens came and went with the sun. They shied away into their homes every time the moon peaked over the horizon. He supposed there was some dark secret this city was keeping, and he should be following their example and staying inside as well, but this was his second day here and he was lost.

There was nothing like being lost, but being lost in the rain was another story. The noise just made it ten times harder to find anything. What he thought were inns usually turned out to be grocery stores or even more embarrassing, strip clubs. 

Riku strolled past an alley, all his thoughts were wrapped around a small hope of finding an inn, even a motel would suffice. Side stepping a puddle, he ducked under an awning and tried to collect his bearings. To his right was an empty street with a few parked cars. There was nothing of interest there. To his left… he frowned. There was something over there, a flickering of movement. 

Focusing his other senses in the general direction of where he'd just come from, he scanned the area. There it was again, this time there was more movement. It quickly dawned on him what was the cause of this movement, and he shook his head.

Even this world was bound to the Heartless.

Holding out his hand, he willed his weapon to appear. It was a sword, one he had acquired years ago. It was meant to be a temporary one until he was able to get his hands on the keyblade, but eventually he had grown attached to it. He and this sword had gone through quite a lot together, and it appeared that they were going to see more.

Riku didn't wait for the Heartless to congregate into a mass that could potentially overwhelm him. Instead, he attacked head on, slicing through their ranks with ease. Years of practice had him acting more on instinct than anything else. He didn't need his eyesight to perceive an attack, even with half his hearing gone thanks to the rain, he could still respond quickly to his senses.

Their bodies faded away in a tendril of black smoke, leaving behind a horde of green and yellow spheres. He collected most of the yellow spheres, knowing that they should have at least some monetary value in this world, and ignored the green ones. 

Willing his sword to disappear, he shoved his hands back into his pockets and continued to walk. The idea of stopping inside one of the buildings and asking someone for directions came and went in his mind. It was only after his tenth encounter with the Heartless when he decided that asking wouldn't hurt anybody. The first building he chose ended up being a restaurant. It was a small one, large enough to fit about twenty small tables. 

His entrance caused every head in the room to turn in his direction. They stared at him, and he could almost see their faint figures through the dark fabric of his blindfold. Moments passed, and most of the heads turned away from him, their owners having lost interest.

In a corner of the restaurant was a small group of women dressed in a hideous looking orange uniform, whispering and laughing to each other. He remained standing there, dripping on the already soiled carpeting until one of the girls eventually broke away from the group and scurried towards him.

She bowed awkwardly and forced on a smile. "Welcome to Sal's Diner, sir, how many will we be serving?"

He raised his eyebrows, he didn't think that restaurants were open this late. Shrugging, he decided that he was feeling a little hungry and said, "One."

The girl was not at all surprised and gestured for him to follow her. He assumed that they received a lot of lonely diners at this time of night and allowed himself to be led to a small table at the front of the restaurant. It was situated in a corner, right beside a window that had its shades pulled down.

"Here you go, sir," the waitress said, handing him a menu.

Nodding, Riku flipped through the menu, finding it hard to decide what to eat. "Uh… I'll just have the special," he told her. 

"Coffee, sir?" the girl asked as she jotted his order down on a small notepad.

Unsure of what exactly coffee tasted like, Riku simply nodded. "Yeah, sure," he replied.

With his order written down, the girl gave him a small smile and walked away. He sat there waiting, occasionally glancing up at the others to meet their gazes. He supposed his way of dress caused him to stick out like a sore thumb. He hadn't spotted many people dressed like him, nor was there a large majority of people who enjoyed walking around blindfolded.

The waitress appeared again, this time balancing a tray with a small bowl. He thanked her when she set the bowl on his table and watched as she left again. He picked up a spoon and began poking at the contents of the bowl: a frothy liquid that had chunks of what he hoped was meat. The bowl was steaming, but he had a feeling that this soup had been sitting in a pot for quite a while.

Once he was finished, the girl came again and whisked away the empty bowl, replacing it with a plate filled with vegetables and a slab of meat, all covered in a red sauce. Just as she was turning to leave, he grabbed her wrist, causing her to lurch forward and nearly drop her tray.

"Can. . . I help you, sir?" she asked, fear was etched in her voice.

"Sorry," he mumbled and immediately released her. "Just, what city is this?"

She stared at him, and he could almost see the puzzled expression on her face. "Centerpoint City," she answered.

"Thank you," Riku said and turned to his meal. He said nothing more and the waitress left. She was probably going to tell her other companions a few choice words about him. 

He hacked away at the meat and slowly ate his meal. It'd been a while since he had eaten anything warm. Most of the meals he ate while in Kingdom Hearts, when he actually ate, were cold and usually consisted of globs of some black substance that he didn't want to know what the contents were.

Sipping at his coffee and fighting back a grimace, he glanced up as the waitress came and cleared the table, leaving behind a cheque. He picked the piece of paper up and turned to the waitress, gesturing her over.

"How. . .  much is this again?" he asked.

He heard the girl gasp and faintly saw her clamp her hand over her mouth. She shook her head and took the cheque away from him. "Oh, I'm so sorry sir! I completely forgot about your…" she trailed off and placed the paper back on the table and named the amount due. Nodding, Riku forked over the necessary munny and watched as she left and once again came back with the receipt. 

"Miss," he spoke up, stopping the girl in her tracks. "Do you know where there's a hotel? Or an inn or just some place to stay for the night."

He could tell that the girl was frowning and couldn't, for the life of him, figure out what he had said wrong. It was just a simple question.

"Five blocks east of here," she replied. "But. . . sir, you don't really intend on going outside, do you?"

Bewildered by her question, he slowly nodded. "Is there. . . something wrong?" he asked.

"The Heartless!" she exclaimed. "They come out at night and take your-"

"Your heart," Riku finished for her. "Yeah, I know, but you seriously don't expect me to stay here for the entire night?"

She smiled, truly smiled for the first time, and Riku noted that she looked more like Kairi this way. "We give away free coffee refills."

He felt the corner of his lips twitch and he smirked. "I don't think so," he replied. It was at that moment that Riku realized that these people, the diners peppered about the restaurant, were planning to stay the night. 

"Thanks for your concern," he said, rising from his seat.

"Sir, please, don't go!" she exclaimed, standing in front of the booth and blocking his exit.

He opened his mouth to protest when a cry from across the room caused him clamp it shut. He turned his attention towards the gathering group of diners in front one of the windows that had its shades drawn back. The waitress, forgetting about her previous concern, rushed towards another window and peered out. Riku didn't need to follow the girl. He could already 'see' what was happening.

It was a battle where two people were fighting against a horde of dark figures, the Heartless. One of them was of amazing height, while the other was ridiculously short. Even though they were holding their own against the Heartless fairly well, Riku still rushed outside to join the fight. 

His entrance gained the attention of half the Heartless, causing most of them to rush towards him. Wearing a large smirk on his face, he ran forward and cut one of the nearest shadows in half. This didn't deter the others as they began surrounding him. Giving one of the Heartless a kick, he twisted his body around and brought his sword down on another. In a matter of moments, the Heartless that had surrounded him had been cut down by his blade.

He turned to face the rest of the Heartless and was surprised to find them gone, replaced by green and yellow spheres. Lowering his sword he approached the two figures, there was something vastly familiar about them that he couldn't quite place. 

They both turned to face him, and it was the taller of the two who spoke first. "Riku!"

Taken aback, the silver-haired boy frowned. "How do you know. . . ?" He didn't bother to finish the sentence as an image of Sora, followed by two others, floated to the forefront of his mind. "You two are. . . Donald and Goofy?" 

They nodded, and Riku found himself smiling. If they were here, then that meant Sora was here. Hopping forward, he grabbed the front of Donald's shirt and lifted him off the ground. "Where is he?!" he shouted. He felt himself grinning from ear to ear. "Where's Sora!?"

The shifting of the smaller one's eyes was all the answer he needed, and what hopes he had were shattered. Dropping the creature, he turned away and brought a hand up to his face. Hope gave way to disappointment that soon became anger.

"Weren't you two supposed to be with him?" Riku demanded, allowing part of that anger to seep into his voice. "Mickey told me that he ordered you two to stay with him."

"We know!" Donald retorted, pulling himself off the ground. "We did as His Majesty ordered, but something happened and we couldn't help it."

Riku turned to face the duck. "What happened?" he asked.

"Five years ago, we came to this world," Donald began.

"And we walked around this world looking for that Door to the Light," Goofy continued. "We passed by this big ol' building and got attacked by the Heartless. After the fight, Sora started acting strange."

"He was acting crazy," the duck had put it bluntly. "He ran into the building, and we tried running after him, but there was some barrier and we couldn't get through. Then some dark energy poured out of the building, and a bunch of Heartless came out of it."

"The Darkness swallowed Sora," Goofy said. 

"Where is this place?" Riku demanded. 

"Over there," Donald answered, pointing down the street.

Riku glanced in the direction the duck had been pointing and felt an icy spike thrust into his chest. He gasped as the cold feeling spread through his entire being. Back pedalling, he caught onto Goofy's shoulder and steadied himself.

"There's. . . darkness over there," he said. The words came out of his mouth in a hoarse whisper.

Donald nodded. "That's where all the Heartless come from."

Focusing his senses, he scanned the area and pinpointed the source of darkness. It was a total void swimming with icy currents, and in his mind he saw its outer shell: a building, perhaps the tallest in the city, that had tall screens mounted at the front. 

"Why… did he go in there?" he asked under his breath. Sora should have been smart enough to stay away from the darkness…unless there was something in it that had attracted him.

***

He'd left both Donald and Goofy back at the hotel, choosing to be alone instead. Wandering about the city during the day was a different experience then walking about at night. Instead of streets teaming with Heartless, there were people. Most of these people, even while up and walking still appeared as if they'd just crawled out of bed and were ready to crawl back in. 

The rain had stopped but had left evident traces of its activity. The tiny puddles that he'd managed to side step before had expanded to cover the entire width of the sidewalk, making it impossible to avoid them. Pausing in his walk as he passed the building from before, he stared up at it. Goofy and Donald had called it the TV Tower and it'd been abandoned after Sora had been lost in it. Riku resisted the urge to reach out and sense his friend, not with this much darkness surrounding the building. 

Turning away from the building, he frowned as a boy his age walked past him. Without even trying, his mind conjured an image of someone dressed just like him with lightly coloured bangs of hair covering his eyes. The feeling about this boy was familiar. It was a presence he knew too well.

. . . Sora.

"Sora!" he exclaimed, causing many of the people around him to turn to him in surprise. He ignored them and instead focused on the other boy. Shoving his way through the crowd he tried to reach the boy only to find himself shoved violently back by an angry pedestrian.

"Why don't you watch where you're going?"

"Shut up!" Riku snapped and shoved past the person again. In that split second in which his attention had been diverted, he'd lost sight of the boy.

_ No, no, no,_ NO!!

"Sora!" He shouted the name again, rounding the sidewalk, but there was no sign of him.

He sighed and leaned against the wall. Pressing a hand against his forehead, he tilted his head towards the sky. No one could have disappeared from him that quickly, and he couldn't have just imagined the appearance of Sora. 

A flicker in the sky caught his attention: a streaking light. Blinking rapidly, he caught 'sight' of another thread of light, which was followed by another.

Meteors.

He glanced around him, wondering if anyone else saw what he was seeing. No one was paying attention to the sky. One of the meteors fell directly beside him, and still no one reacted. Bending down, he gingerly picked up the object and studied it. The shiny stone felt warm in his hand and was quickly losing its heat. Pocketing it, Riku turned away from the crowd and began to head back to the hotel.

***

"It's a gummi piece," informed Donald.

Riku laid the stone on the table. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive!" the duck exclaimed vehemently. "I'd know a gummi piece anywhere!"

"Whoa, okay, calm down," Riku said, holding his hands up defensively. "So it's a gummi piece, what does it mean? And why can't anyone else see the meteors?"

Donald and Goofy exchanged glances before turning to face him and shaking their heads. "We don't know what it means or why other people can't see them, but if gummi pieces are falling. . . "

"That means the barrier to this world is breaking down," Goofy finished. "Which means someone's muddling with the world border!" The small duck shook his head, no longer bothering to correct his tall companion. 

Riku remained silent as he digested the information. If this world's barrier was falling apart, then there was a greater possibility that there were other worlds out there that were going through the same thing. He knew that there was some sort of outside force at work, and part of his mind raced back to the boy from before. It could be his doing; after all, the meteor shower hadn't started until after he had appeared.

Shaking his head at his poor logic, Riku sighed and stood. "I'm getting tired, I guess we'd better turn in for the night," he said. "All this is giving me a headache."

"Good idea, Riku, we should all get plenty of sleep," Goofy agreed.

Nodding at both of his new companions, Riku headed for his own room and slid the door shut behind him. He didn't really feel tired, though he certainly had enough of the mysteries that were springing up in this city. As he sat on his bed, he wondered if Sora ever felt this drained. Not likely, Sora never gave up. He had an endless amount of energy that seemed to be powered from the very core of Kingdom Hearts itself. Smiling at the thought of his friend, he settled against the mattress and pulled off his blindfold, shoving it under his pillow.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to will sleep to claim him. Sleep was elusive that night, and Riku found himself cracking his eyes open in the darkness, wincing slightly at the faint glow of the neon lights from outside. It was strange how he'd forgotten to close the shades to the single window in his room; usually he made a point of doing so since the slightest bit of light kept him up. Tugging the blindfold free, he wrapped it around his eyes and crawled towards the window, reaching a hand up to close the blinds. He hesitated as he dimly spotted a familiar shape in the midst of the city: the TV Tower. It was definitely the tallest building of Centerpoint, but also one that could possibly hold the answers to his many questions. 

Letting his hand drop, Riku unlocked the window and carefully slid it open. Goofy, as far as he knew, was fairly good at detecting the faintest noises, even if he was asleep and it was the dead of the night. 

Leaping out of the window, he landed more or less on his feet and began running towards the TV Tower, stopping along the way to destroy a few Heartless. He eventually reached the tower and stopped at its base to look up at its menacing silhouette. Without trying, he could sense the darkness pouring out of it. 

A drop of rain splattered against his cheek. Riku jerked away in surprise and held out a hand. More droplets gathered in his palm. Rain again, this would make things complicated, but it wasn't as if he were expecting things to be easy.

Coiling his legs, he leapt, his feet kicking off the ground. He continued kicking, propelling himself through the air. He didn't dare glance down, afraid that the height he'd ascended would disturb his concentration and cause him to fall, and it was a long drop too. As soon as he'd reached the zenith of his jump, Riku pushed himself forward and found himself falling at a faster rate than he'd been climbing. His feet slammed painfully against the hard surface of the TV Tower's roof, causing a numbing wave to spread across his body. 

Gritting his teeth, he approached the edge of the building and peered down. A wave of nausea swept over him as he saw how high the building was. Shaking his head, he pushed aside all fear and concentrated on one goal. 

The screens below him came to life and flickered as he tried to project an image from his mind. A picture of Kairi appeared and soon died out, only to appear again. Riku sighed; he supposed this was about as good as he could get it.

Standing there he waited as rain continued to fall, forming puddles by his feet. Moments passed, and soon moments turned into hours and still there was nothing. 

Riku stood firm as another blast of icy wind whipped at his silvery hair. He turned his gaze towards the sky as he felt another meteor shower, though unlike before they were hidden behind the grey clouds.

. . . _There._

It was that presence again, and he felt sure that it was approaching him. Turning his gaze downward, Riku spotted the figure, dressed in the same leather coat, though this time with his hood pulled over his head to act as some meagre protection against the drizzling rain.

The boy's brisk and confident footsteps faltered as shadows began to assemble around him. He came to a stop as they rose from the ground, taking on the form of the Heartless. Riku frowned, these weren't the ordinary Heartless he had fought before, but he knew he'd faced these creatures in the past. Scouring his mind, he quickly found the appropriate information. The Neo Shadows, found only at the End of the World, they were attracted to the darkness there, and Riku couldn't figure out what had forced them to gather here.

It was a sea of endless shadows, twitching and thriving like a boiling cauldron of oil, and in the middle of it was the boy. He seemed neither impressed nor deterred by the Heartless and instead pulled out his weapon. The flashing glint of the smooth metallic surface caused Riku's eyes to widen. A second flash caused his heart to race as the boy had pulled out a second weapon.

Dual keyblades.

The boy brought his weapons together, crossing them together in an impressive display of crackling energy. The Heartless showed no reaction but Riku felt himself smiling. 

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Heyo!! Naela speaking here (well duh!) if ain't obvious enough this is a fic that's semi based on Deep Dive. Yeppers, I know there's a lot of fics out there that's like this but I'm hoping this is at least a little different. A lotta Riku in this chapter and more of him in the next one. I promise we'll see more of other major characters in this fic later on. Of course if I revealed who they were then it'd be spoiling it for ya. Just have a little faith. So what did you guys think? Good? Bad? HORRIBLE??? (Hope not!) Go ahead and review! I love getting opinions and oh, BIG SPECIAL THANKS TO DEJA VU for beta reading this chapter for me. You like Star Wars? Then go read her fics found here. Anyway, stick around for the next chapter! 


	2. It's You

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

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** Chapter Two: It's You**

  


Glancing up, Riku held his arms open and parted the clouds, revealing the meteor shower and illuminating the field. The soft lighting allowed him to make out the faint shapes of the creatures below him. More importantly, he wanted to _see_ the dual keyblade wielder fight. 

Below him, the hooded boy was surrounded by a fiery, purple symbol that had somehow warded off the Heartless. This symbol, the sign of the Heartless, Riku couldn't understand why Sora would be using the Heartless' own symbol against them, but if it worked then he wouldn't question it. The hooded boy was staring up at him now, their eyes met briefly, and Riku smiled. He reached up and tugged on the black cloth, letting himself be blinded by the light, but in that brief moment of peace he saw him. He met the actual gaze of his best friend before he pulled back as the light began to pain him. He quickly tied the blindfold back on and rubbed his forehead to ease the pain.

Glancing back down, he saw that the hooded stranger was still gazing at him. His lips moved and echoed a question that Riku had asked only a day ago.

"Where's Sora?"

Even Sora would never ask a question about where he was. Riku knew this and felt his heart sink once again. The person below him wasn't Sora.

He glanced down again and saw that some of the Heartless had leapt into the air. The fighter paused before leaping into the air as well and bringing himself onto their level. He slashed at the airborne Heartless, cutting many of them in half and gaining more height in the process. As he reached the peak of his jump, the fighter twisted his body around and threw his one of his keyblades at four Heartless that had managed to jump higher than him. He caught the weapon in his free hand before landing on the ground again. 

The purple flames were gone now, and there was only the army of Heartless and the lone fighter. The way he held his keyblade, the fighting style and even his moves, they were all too familiar. If this man wasn't Sora then he had to be someone who'd been close to him and that thought made him smile. He was close to finding him.

A flicker of movement caught his attention. Glancing down below, he saw that the fighter had backed into the building and was staring up at him. He allowed the other to see his smile and was surprised to see the fighter jump onto the side of the building and begin running up its side, mercilessly slicing apart any Heartless that had been foolish enough to get in his way. 

As the unknown fighter got closer to him, he held his arm back and threw one of his keyblades. Riku wondered if the fighter was trying to attack him by using the same move as before. 

No, that wasn't it, the throw was too wide, and having seen the fighter previously execute a similar move with such stunning accuracy, he found it hard to believe this man would throw such a pathetic attack. The answer soon came to Riku and he leapt off the building, falling face first. He snatched the keyblade as it came into reach and was startled to recognize it as the Oblivion.

The other continued running up the building, not even hesitating as his foot landed on the slick surface of the giant screen. Riku winced as he came directly in front of the same screen. The image of Kairi flickered beneath them as they passed each other, exchanging significant looks. Riku's eyes fell on the Kingdom Key that the other had taken out as a replacement for the weapon he'd given up. He had to tear his eyes off the screen when he sensed a Heartless coming at him. Bringing the Oblivion in front of him, Riku easily hacked through the Heartless and its followers. 

The ground came at him sooner than he'd anticipated, and to land without breaking any bones would require a great amount of concentration. It was a difficult task with a legion of Heartless breathing down his back. Twisting around, Riku forced his legs forward and managed to cut through another of the Neo Shadows in the process. His feet hit the ground in an intense explosion of pain that reverberated through him. 

He didn't have the time to stop and let the feeling pass as five Heartless came at him. He jumped back, missing a swipe at his gut and he retaliated with a swing of the Oblivion. The Heartless fell away, breaking apart like a stream of water caught by the pull of gravity. 

The other Heartless had met a similar fate when they met the sharp part of his keyblade. 

The ground beneath him seemed to vibrate, and that presence was behind him now. Riku continued fighting the Heartless in front, and the back of his leg brushed against the rough fabric of a leather jacket. He began moving forward and manoeuvred a group of the Heartless in the other direction. Now he was facing the other fighter and saw that he had done the same thing. 

Growling as he sensed an attack from behind, Riku leapt into his air, and in that moment when he was up in the air and away from danger, he could see the sweeping mass of darkness. He contemplated a magic spell. He thought against it, a spell would only drain him, and he would need every ounce of energy he had. 

There was no way they could take them all on.

The fighting continued, Riku didn't know how much time had passed, but the feeling in his arm made it seem as if it'd been hours. He switched the Oblivion to his left hand and bought it down on another Heartless. It seemed as if no matter how many he cut down, it didn't do much against the sea of shadows. His senses warned him of another attack from behind, so he turned around. There was a brilliant flash of light that penetrated his blindfold. Riku stumbled backwards and nearly dropped the Oblivion as a sledgehammer of pain slammed against his brain. He continued moving backwards, reminding himself not to make himself an easy target for the Heartless, but he could he no longer feel their presence.

It was just him, the hooded man and. . . "_Mickey_!" he felt the name escape his lips.

The mouse, his only companion during those years of loneliness while locked up in Kingdom Hearts, jumped down from the hood of a car. In his hand, Riku noted was the Kingdom Key. 

Glancing back at the dual keyblade wielder, Riku hesitated and ran towards the mouse. "What are you doing here!? And how did you do that?"

Mickey held up his keyblade and grinned. "A keyblade's designed to not only seal keyholes but also to ward off darkness. I just sorta abused its second purpose."

Riku felt himself grinning at the understatement and quickly glanced back at the boy. He was standing there, holding the two keyblades by his side with his hair still covering his eyes. 

"So you're a keyblade master?" he asked.

The other shrugged and slowly approached them. "To tell the truth," he said. "I wouldn't know."

Riku shook his head--even his voice sounded like him. "You know Sora?" 

The other hesitated before answering and finally nodded. "I know of him," he replied.

The silver haired boy raised an eyebrow. "Know of him?" he repeated. He raised a hand to his forehead. "Okay, another question then, how did _you_ get your hands on the Oblivion?" He glanced over at the other keyblade the boy held in his hands. 

"In fact, how did you get your hands on _Mickey's_ Kingdom Key?" he demanded. He turned to face the mouse and saw that the Kingdom Key that he was holding was the one that Sora should have had. "What's going on here?"

"Riku, just calm down," Mickey said. He held out the Kingdom Key. "This is for you by the way."

"Me?" Riku questioned. The Kingdom Key in Mickey's hand disappeared in a blaze of light and reappeared in his. He held the weapon up, studying it. "Why in the world are you giving it to me?"

"It's about time you started acting as the true keyblade master," Mickey replied. He walked over towards the hooded boy and nodded at him. "And it'll be important for you two to stick together."

"Are you sure about this?" the hooded boy asked. "Handing my key over to him? Is he capable?"

"You gave him the Oblivion before," Mickey pointed out.

"Yes, but the Oblivion is different from the Kingdom Key: it unlocks hearts, the Kingdom Key controls keyholes."

"I think I'm gonna agree with my hooded friend here," Riku said, approaching the other fighter and shoving the keyblade into his arms. The boy fumbled before catching the weapon. "I'm not cut out to wield a Kingdom Key."

Mickey shook his head and sighed. "You make things too complicated, Riku. Just have a little faith."

"Just take it."

Riku turned to face the hooded boy and nearly jumped as the Kingdom Key was thrown back to him. He caught it easily and glanced quizzically at the stranger.

"Fine," he said and willed both the Oblivion and the Kingdom Key to disappear. "Now, how about answering some of my questions?"

"Sora? I--" The hooded boy promptly shut his mouth and turned his sharply towards the TV Tower. Riku didn't question what was wrong. He could already feel it. 

"Mickey…?" he said slowly. The mouse said nothing and Riku glanced up at the TV Tower. Enshrouded by a dark mist, he could barely make out its shape. Beneath him the ground began to vibrate, but it would have been undetectable had Riku not trained himself to sense these things. Soon the vibration grew into noticeable shaking that had windows and cars rattling.

"The darkness within there. . ." the hooded boy said softly, still gazing at the building. "It's reacting to what His Majesty has done."

Mickey nodded. "Yes… this is my fault."

Riku tried to take a step back and found it nearly impossible. He glanced down and saw that the ground was writhing, covered in a black ooze that was spreading. It slowly snaked up his boots, covering them entirely. Grimacing, he yanked himself free of the substance.

"Get out of here," Mickey said, turning to face them. 

Riku nodded and glanced at the stranger. The fighter bent his knees, readying himself, and jumped, easily cresting the top of the nearest building. Riku began to follow his lead when he turned to face Mickey and found the mouse trying to make his way through the ooze towards the TV Tower.

"Mickey!" he shouted after him. "What. . . ? What are you doing?!"

The mouse didn't look at him; he just continued walking.

"No!" Riku began running towards the mouse when Mickey made a quick gesture. A ball of white light pounded against his chest, knocking him into the air. He flailed as he began descending and slammed against a stone roof. He gasped and took in a deep breath of air, trying to regain his senses.

There were footsteps, and soon the hooded boy came into view. The stranger glanced down at him before directing his gaze elsewhere. Riku shot up and ran towards the edge of the building when a blazing light caused him to stop and bring his hands up to his eyes. The light faded out and darkness soon took dominance of the night. 

Ignoring the pain, forgetting about the icy pain of darkness, Riku reached out with his senses and saw it. The TV Tower was gone. There was only a crater, a black void with a bottomless drop. He quickly shut his senses, blocking out the pain, the darkness.

Turning to face the hooded stranger, Riku grabbed him. "What happened?" he demanded. "Tell me!"

The other shoved him away with greater strength than Riku had anticipated. He stumbled back a few steps and steadied himself. The fighter glanced back towards the pit and shook his head. 

"People sacrificing themselves just to help others, noble, beautiful, and always saddening," he said. "Your friend filled himself with light and released it. He destroyed his own body with that light."

"_My_ friend?" Riku growled. "Wasn't he your friend too? _Sora_."

"You're getting angry at me?" the other questioned. "When I had nothing to do with what he did? Besides, why get angry? For all we know, he could still be alive. His Majesty does have a way with surprising people."

Riku allowed himself to fall back into a sitting position. The anger that he had felt was gone now, it had ebbed away into hollowness. The stranger was right, there was no point in getting angry. It wouldn't help anyone, but he couldn't help but feel irritated how indifferent this other person was.

"Are you Sora?" he mumbled. He began doubting his original presumption. 

". . . Maybe."

Riku's head shot up. "Maybe?" he questioned. "How can it be a maybe? It's either you're him or you're not. There's no in between."

"I've been searching for him for years now," the other said. "I'm no closer to finding him now than I've been before, but sometimes I begin to wonder about things. . . "

The hooded man glanced up at the sky. "The meteor shower's over now," he noted. "That means the barrier to this world's collapsed."

Riku stood up and approached the man, without thinking he slammed his fist against the other's cheek and stood back, waiting for an attack. None came; there was only a soft chuckle as the other brought a hand to his face. 

"Stop avoiding my questions."

"I can't answer questions when I have none myself."

Turning away from him, the stranger pulled off his hood and glanced momentarily at what had been left of the TV Tower. "I think it'd be best if we leave this place," he said.

Riku felt his stomach tighten as he caught a glimpse of the hooded boy's face. Grabbing his shoulders, he whirled the other around and pulled off his blindfold. He saw him clearly. The bright blue eyes, the jaw line, the nose. . . his hair was unusually light but everything was the same.

"You _are_ Sora."

Pushing himself away, the hood boy smiled slightly. "Perhaps," he replied. "But I've been calling myself Enigma--that's what most people call me."

"Fine, whatever," Riku mumbled as Enigma began leading the way.

He struggled to hide his elation. _You might call yourself Enigma, but to me you're Sora. I've finally found you._

* * *

Hmmm. . . Sora or not? Oooooh what a mystery. Of course all shall be revealed in later chapters. Yes, more Riku just as I said before. Next chapter introduces a not-so-new character that some of you seem to love or hate, there seems to be no middle ground. On the name "Enigma" well I was grasping for a meaningful name and then I thought up of the Engimatic Man and just decided to use Enigma. Yes I know, the Dual Keyblade Unknown isn't really the Enigmatic Man but let's just forget about that little fact for now. Ok, whatelse am I forgetting? _Is suddenly thrown backwards by a chucked tomato._ Yes. . . Mickey, well a certain beta reader of mine (DEJA VU!!) flayed me for that little incident and I'm sure I'll get a few flames for that. Eep! Anyway, review please and stay tuned for the next chapter!!   
  
SPECIAL THANKS TO:   
  
Deja Vu for beta reading!   
  
Cat: I'm hoping to make things twisty soon!   
  
aerol_amie: I hope this is a good enough update for ya!   
  
Cynthia Chen: Glad you liked the summary, it was a splurge of the moment type thing. ^_^ 


	3. Paradise

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

** Chapter Three: Paradise**

  


"You ready?"

Kairi held up her staff and slid into a fighting stance. Warm sand slipped into her sandals as she slid her feet apart. She pushed a stray lock of hair back and gripped onto the staff. She grinned at her opponent, who stood only a few metres away from her.

"Whenever you are!" she shouted back.

There was a smirk on Tidus' face as brought up his sword and beckoned for her to attack. Kairi charged, her sandal flying off her foot when she closed the distance between her and Tidus. Every time her foot thudded across the ground she kicked up sand and left behind deep burrows. She was only a few feet away from her opponent when she lost her other sandal.

The girl brought her staff down on Tidus and strained when he brought his own weapon up and blocked her blow. The blond grinned at her and shoved her back. Kairi stumbled backwards and drove her staff into the ground to regain her balance. 

Tidus stood back, his own weapon, the same red wooden stick he'd used since childhood, was resting against his shoulder. He'd graduated from a wooden stick to a real sword years ago, but for the sake of safety he'd gone back to using his childhood weapon.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" he shouted at her.

"Gimme a break will ya?" Kairi mumbled.

"You think your opponent will do that for you in a _real_ fight?" Tidus retorted and cleared the distance between them with one long jump. Kairi anticipated his next attack and rolled aside. Sand sprayed everywhere as Tidus' weapon slammed against the ground. 

Tidus jerked his head away as sand flew into his eyes. He blinked rapidly and swung wildly as he heard the girl charging at him. His swing missed her and instead left him open. Kairi slid her hands near the base of the staff and brought her weapon down on his shoulder. The blond cried out and reared backwards, ignoring the pain in his eyes as he jabbed forward and met her staff. The girl giggled at his clumsy attack and shoved him backwards. The blond fell onto his back, and he stayed there, groaning at his embarrassing defeat.

"That was pathetic," he said, bringing a hand up to his forehead and wiping away the beads of sweat. Kairi sat down beside him and grinned. 

"You've gotta stop doing that move," she said, wagging a finger at him. "It always leaves you wide open."

"Yeah, yeah," Tidus retorted. "You're getting good."

"I learn from the best," Kairi said. She leaned forward and punched him playfully on his shoulder. "And you were going easy on me weren't you?"

Tidus' sheepish grin was answer enough. Kairi rolled her eyes and glanced over towards the dock. Selphie stood on the edge, calmly watching Wakka swim in the water. There wasn't a doubt in Kairi's mind that he was practicing his blitzball moves. While Wakka was a great blitzer, it was Tidus who outranked him in that particular underwater sport. Tidus, on the other hand, didn't seem interested in a career as an athlete. He'd admitted to her once that he wanted to be a swordsman and train under Auron, their resident swords master. 

"So how are things going on between you and Yuna?" Kairi asked.

"Okay," Tidus replied. He sat up and frowned. "Things are getting a little bit shaky."

"What's up?"

"Her and her Yevon," Tidus replied snidely. "It's always, 'Sorry, Tidus, can't make it tonight, I have prayer at the shrine.' I'm beginning to feel like I'm secondary in her life."

Kairi smiled softly. "Even if you see things like that, I'm pretty sure Yuna doesn't mean it," she said. "To her you're the most important person in her life. She's just got obligations."

Smirking, Tidus shrugged and winced at the painful reminder of his injured shoulder. "Guess you're right about that." Standing up, he pointed his stick at her. "You ready for another round?"

Jumping to her feet, Kairi knocked his weapon away with her staff. "You betcha!"

It was two hours later when Kairi and Tidus had called it quits and were sitting underneath a palm tree, enjoying its shade. Both Wakka and Selphie joined them. It was just like old times when all of them would just sit there and talk about anything.

Things had changed of course, two of them were missing and they had all grown up. Now they were the ones who would watch the other younger children run around trying to beat each other up with makeshift weapons. 

"You guys realize what day it is today?" Selphie asked.

Two heads shook. "Today would be the first time we ever met Kairi!"

"Oh yeah!" Wakka exclaimed.

"Whoa, sorry, we forgot, Kairi," Tidus said, looking apologetic.

Kairi shook her head. "Doesn't matter," she replied and waved her hand, dismissing the matter. "It's not a bit deal."

Sora and Riku had always made a big deal out of it. She remembered one year when they'd tried to organize a concert, which failed miserably when Wakka had accidentally destroyed their stage with a loose blitzball. 

They'd been so down after that.

She still kept tabs of dates like these, Sora and Riku's birthdays, the first time they'd met, the first time Sora had broken his arm, and the first time Riku got sick after eating a bad mushroom. Usually no one else remembered things like this, but it made her smile that other people still thought of the two.

"Wonder when they're coming back," Wakka said, folding his arms behind his head, he leaned against a palm tree.

"Maybe soon," Kairi said softly. 

Noticing Kairi's downcast look, Selphie sprung up and began running towards the water. "Hey you guys! Come on, let's go for a swim!"

"Swim?" Tidus repeated. "But we didn't even bring out swimming suits."

"Who cares!" Selphie retorted.

"You go first, man," Wakka said, gesturing after the brown haired girl.

Tidus rolled his eyes and slowly climbed to his feet. Suddenly grinning, the blond grabbed Wakka's blitzball and began jogging towards the waters. "Come on, Wakka, I'm challenging you to a game! Let's see if you can even catch up to me this time."

Wakka immediately shot up and chased after the boy. "That was an off day!" he exclaimed. Tidus was already in the waters by that time. Kairi smiled as she watched after the three and slowly stood to join them. Shuffling across the sand, she paused when her eyes caught sight of a light in the sky. Frowning, she brought her hand up to her forehead to shield the sun from her eyes and saw it clearly this time: a meteor. Bringing her hands to the small of her back, she held one arm with the other in her usual habit of standing and watched as it made its way down towards the water.

There was something important about meteors…

"Kairi! You coming or not?" Tidus shouted.

She jerked her head away from the sky and turned to face the trio swimming in the sea. She nodded and turned back towards the meteor, but it was gone now. It probably crashed into the water or something like that.

Grinning back at the blond, she nodded and began sprinting towards the waters.

***

It was sunset when everyone had returned to the main island. Kairi was the last one to leave the children's paradise and the last one to arrive at residential section of Destiny Islands. As she clamoured onto the pier, she caught sight of Selphie, Tidus and Wakka all waving at her before leaving. She waved back and sighed as she sat on the edge of the pier, her feet dangling in an awkward manner. Her sandals threatened to slip off and fall into the murky depths below. 

There was a moment like this five years ago. It'd been a moment of quiet calm with only the sunset ahead of her and the one she cared for the most by her side. In the months afterwards when world barriers had separated them, she always took solace in the fact that they were connected. 

Holding a hand over her heart, she could feel its rhythmic beat. At one point her heart and Sora's heart had been one. She wasn't fully conscious at that time, she couldn't understand the different floods of emotions and the fact that she was in her body and outside of it at the same time, but it was Sora's presence that had been enough to comfort her.

Sometimes she could hear his voice in her head. They used to have conversations, she would see what he was seeing and it was the other way around for him. 

It'd been years since she'd been able to hear his voice again. On occasion, she would feel an emotion that wasn't hers, and while it reassured her that he was still alive, the reminder that he no longer wanted to speak to her was like a knife in her heart. Every time it happened, the knife twisted just a little more.

The sun had finally set, and Kairi broke away from the imagery. She tried calling one last time for Sora, but like every night before, there was no answer. She sighed but wasn't wholly disappointed. Brushing the back of her skirt of grime, she began heading towards the residential area.

The island was really rows of houses that were spread about randomly. Most of the houses were lit from the inside, and one in particular that sat near the edge of the island had only one window lit. She headed for that house. It was situated at the top of a hill that brought back memories of her and Sora and Riku rolling down it with shaky skateboards. She still bore a scar from one of the many accidents she suffered from the dangerous sport. She remembered hating how fast the board went and how she always squeezed her eyes shut. Riku and Sora always laughed when it was their turn and she could have easily stayed back, only Sora always convinced her to take a risk.

She stood at the top of the hill and paused at the front of the house, like every other building on the island, it had a garden, one that was tended with obvious love and care. She'd worked in this garden a few times before and loved the sight of the blooming blossoms. The garden still had a fragrant scent as she passed by it, taking a small stepping stone path towards the front door. 

Kairi didn't need to knock, the door opened before she even lifted an arm. The woman who greeted her, brown haired with matching brown eyes that shone with delight, snatched at her hand and shook it vigorously. "Kairi! I was wondering when you'd get here!"

  
The girl laughed. "Sorry," she apologized. "I was a little preoccupied."

"Oh never mind that," the elderly woman released her hand and stepped aside, gesturing for her to step in. "Come in, I was just making dinner when I spotted you from the kitchen window."

Kairi nodded and entered the house. She could already smell the spicy aromas of the woman's dinner. "What are you making?" 

"A new recipe I found," the woman replied as she shuffled towards down the hall and into the kitchen. Kairi followed her and watched as she tended to the steaming pots on the stove.

"Mind if I help?" she asked.

"I'd love it if you did," the woman said, smiling in a familiar manner at her. She gestured towards a cutting board with a pile of vegetables. "Mind cutting those?"

"Of course not!" Kairi exclaimed and promptly went to work. 

With Kairi's help, the woman was done making dinner quicker than anticipated. As she began washing the dishes, she turned to face Kairi. "How was your day?"

"The same," Kairi answered as she dumped what garbage she could find into the trash bin. "I've been practicing with the staff again with Tidus. He's a pretty good teacher."

"Oh really? That boy's so much like his father."

Kairi giggled. "I think not, Tidus is much nicer."

The woman grinned again. "When you get to know Jecht you'll realize how nice he is.  Hmmm… soup's ready." She rushed over towards a large pot and dipped a wooden spoon into it, stirring it a few times. Kairi leaned against the counter, clasping her hands behind her back as she watched the woman.

It was amazing how easy it was to keep up a farce. Talk about this and that, talk just about anything except for a certain subject. This woman, Sora's mother, who insisted in being called Bea, had been living a farce since the day she realized that her son would not be coming home.

"It's getting late," Kairi said, pushing herself away from the counter. "I better get going."

"Oh? Don't you want to stay for dinner?" 

She shook her head. "I need to get dinner ready at home anyway," she said. "Send my regards to your husband!"

Bea smiled and escorted her to the door. "He'll be disappointed in missing you," she said.

"I'll swing by earlier tomorrow," Kairi promised.

The woman waved good-bye and watched Kairi traverse down the hill, and eventually when the girl disappeared from sight, she closed the door and returned to the kitchen.

***

__

It was a beach, dark and noisy with the churning of the sea. Ahead was a moon glowing with a bright intensity that it seemed almost like a dim star. There were no stars, only an endless night sky. Marring this dark perfection were rock structures, protruding from the ground to rise into arcs and sink back into the soft sand. They formed rib-caged patterns about the beach.

"I've been to see him."

The man who spoke was sitting on a rock, staring off into ocean. He was dressed in a black jacket with a hood pulled over his face, obscuring his facial features from sight. There was another approaching him. The other, with glowing yellow eyes, dressed in a similar fashion, stopped before the rock and was silent. A wind blew at them, playing with their clothing.

The seated man turned away from the ocean and now stared at the one with the glowing eyes. "He looks just like you."

The other was still and said, "It's all coming back to me now, the true…" He stopped and glanced over in the distance, spotting the girl who was backed up against one of the protruding ribs, watching them with wide eyes.

Kairi shot up in bed, inhaling sharply as she did so. An icy breath shot through her heart, causing her to lurch forward. She brought a hand to her chest, clenching a fistful of cloth. The dream, the man with the glowing eyes, the seated man… she knew them.

The icy coolness intensified, becoming a painful touch that made her want to scream. She brought the pillow to her mouth and clamped down on it and let out a pained cry, one after another until the pain subsided and her pillow was covered in her own spittle. Letting it drop into her lap, she closed her eyes and let herself cry; her body shook with each sob. She couldn't understand why she was crying, but a part of her knew that she was mourning over her best friend: over the one she loved the most.

* * *

Awww so sad... or extremely corny, well at least I know I made Deja Vu cry. *G* Yes, chapter three has now introduced three of the most important characters in this fic and some of you might be fairly disappointed because for some odd reason a lot of people here don't seem to like Kairi. I suppose some of the fans of the Riku/Sora pairing feel threatened by her presence. I personally don't mind Kairi at all and thought that her character had a lot of potential in the game, only, Squaresoft had decided to make her one of those Damsels in Distress and pushed her off to the sidelines, but judging from one of the English lines of the secret endings "This time, I'll fight," I'm making an assumption that Kairi will no longer be a little pansy girl who can only wait for her 'man' to save her. Anyway, I'm quite surprised by the amount of reviews I got and I hope you guys keep on reviewing. Next chapter will feature Riku and Enigma and we'll take a peak at what they've been doing. 

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 

Deja Vu for beta reading AND reviewing!! 

Cynthia Chen: HEE HEE!! Yes, I've incorporated the final endings and tried my best to interpret them and such and Behind the Darkness is the result. I'm glad you're not gonna flame me! I was expecting the worst. *_* 

Dragonmaster Dyne: Wow! I'm really honoured that you feel that way about my fic, I have no idea but you're review has got me grinning pretty wide. No, I won't drop this fic, I put too much effort and planning on the storyline to drop it! 

Amethyst: LOL!! I'm glad you like my writing style and I hope you'll enjoy the future chapters I'm gonna bestow upon you. ^_^ 

linkinparkdude13: I'll read your fic and review, I promise since you were nice enough to read mine! 

Cat: I'm hoping you'll like what happens next chapter. *wink wink* 

Koorino Megumi: Oi!! Thank you VERY much for catching that little inconsistency! The thing about Riku's sight that I tend to forget that he's wearing the blindfold while writing. I don't know, there are a few fics out there as far as I recall that are based on FM and I've tried my hardest to make this fic a little different but all of the intros are pretty much the same. Don't worry about being nit picky because I love nit picky reviewers. *G* 


	4. In Between

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

** Chapter Four: In Between**

Enigma held out the Kingdom Key--the key that was supposed to belong to King Mickey, but somehow he had it. A thread of energy arced around the golden handle before leaping forward and exploding in a flash of light. That light pulled in on itself and knifed upwards. The space that the energy had travel formed a crack that was large enough to fit three people. It was like peering through a shattered stained glass window and seeing the world behind it.

Lowering his arm, Enigma said, "Let's go."

Riku took a step forward, but stopped when a nagging thought surfaced. "Wait," he said. "What about Goofy and Donald?"

"Who?" asked Enigma, turning away from the crack.

"Goofy and Donald, remember?" Riku asked. He realized that Enigma probably wouldn't remember. "Ah, never mind, they're my friends."

_ They're supposed to be your friends too._

Crossing his arms, Enigma lowered his eyebrows into a frown in the same fashion Sora used to express disapproval. "Leave them," he said.

"What?"

"I said leave them," Enigma responded in the same calm tone as before. He turned back to the crack. "We don't need to start dragging along any extra dead weight."

"Goofy and Donald are far from being--"

Whirling around to face him, Enigma stepped up to the silver haired boy and glowered at him. "If this is all you're going to do, waste time with your nonsensical blather, then you might as well remain here."

Sora would never say something that cruel.

Enigma headed for the crack and paused to stare at Riku once before disappearing behind it. The silver haired boy silently counted to ten before following and found Enigma waiting for him on the other side. Lazily, the boy waved his Kingdom Key and in a flash of light, the crack disappeared. 

"I thought you said the barriers to this world collapsed," Riku said.

Enigma nodded. "The barriers that keep people from entering and leaving have," he said. "But the one that keeps up a semblance of containment is still up."

Reaching up, Riku pulled his blindfold up and over his eyes, allowing him to scan the area around him. They'd stepped into what looked like a twisting hallway filled with row upon row of doors. The walls between each door were cracked, bits and pieces of it shattered, revealing only darkness behind the fallen parts. Above them was a darkened sky, lacking stars or other celestial bodies. The only light in the place was from the glowing emblems emblazoned on the front of every door. He squinted when he stared directly at the emblems but it was a light that he could tolerate.

"What is this place?" he asked.

"The World in Between," Enigma answered. "Between every barrier of a world there is a space. This space is the path that most world travellers go through in order to get into another world."

"You mean that region that most Gummi ships travel through?" Riku asked.

The sandy blond warrior nodded and glanced over his shoulder, "Enough with the questions, we need to get going." 

Enigma led him down one corridor, then another. The paths twisted and were as odd in structure as Wonderland's Bizarre Room. At times the halls would go uphill and they would have to climb it and then it would suddenly drop down steeply, and they would have to be careful not to slip and meet with an unfortunate accident. Sometimes there were stairs to mount or descend, and most of the time they came across forks. Enigma always chose the path to the right, and Riku followed, wondering if they were anywhere near their destination.

Just what was their destination?

"Hey," he spoke up. 

Enigma hesitated slightly before walking again. "What?"

"Where exactly are we going?"

The sandy haired boy shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, he immediately clamped it shut again and lunged forward, pulling Riku close to him and dragging him back down the corridor they come from.

"Wha-hey!?" Riku exclaimed as he struggled to break free from Enigma's firm grip.

"Shut up!" Enigma snapped and pulled him down another corridor. He flung Riku against the wall and pressed himself against the silver haired boy.

Riku opened his mouth to protest when his attention was drawn to a sound in the distance, one that was growing louder and was ominous as an approaching sound. Riku recognized the noise as it grew louder. It was a thundering herd of multiple footsteps. Focusing on the corridor's entrance, he 'saw' them pass: an entire group of beings dressed in a style similar to his and Enigma's, except, unlike them, these beings were completely faceless, the shadows of their hoods covering their entire face and hiding their features.

Moments passed and the hooded beings continued to file past, not noticing them until Riku fidgeted, lifting his weight from one foot to another as his legs grew tired when he'd unconsciously forced himself to be still. Their heads whipped about and Riku bit back a gasp when he saw the empty hoods. Fear made him call the Oblivion into existence. A hand snaked its way to his grasp onto his wrist and stopped him from making any sudden lunges.

"Don't!" Enigma hissed into his ear. "They're your brethren."

Riku recoiled and knocked his head against the wall. He winced at the pain and momentarily saw spots. By the time his head cleared, the hooded beings that had stopped to stare at them continued moving ahead once more. Eventually the last of them had passed and they were well ahead in the distance.

Shoving Enigma away from him, Riku glared. "What did you mean by that?" he demanded. "My _brethren_?"

Enigma sighed and walked towards the entrance of the corridor. He peered down the conjoining one in the direction that the beings had gone.

Undeterred, Riku approached the warrior, the Oblivion still in hand. "Answer me!"

"So you truly know nothing," Enigma muttered. Turning away from down the corridor to face the silver haired boy. "After all this time and you still understand nothing."

A part of Riku's mind screamed at him, as warning bells went off. He backed away, suddenly bringing the Oblivion up and holding it at Enigma. The point hovered a mere few centimetres from his nose, but Enigma stared calmly at him, unimpressed.

"What are you doing?" 

"The only other person I've known who's spoken words like that was Ansem," Riku snarled. "I get it now, you're just using some sort of illusion of Sora to get to me!"

The other rolled his eyes and began to walk away, strolling down in the direction that the beings had come. He disappeared behind a corner. Moments passed by in silence before Riku lowered the Oblivion. He pressed a hand against his forehead and groaned.

"Maybe I am Ansem."

Riku's heart hammered against his chest. He whirled around to see Enigma in the corner and behind him, suspended in the air was a large, multicoloured crack that silhouetted his figure.

"Or maybe I'm Sora," Enigma continued. "But you know, at this point I really wouldn't care what you think. I could just leave you here and not give a damn, but apparently Mickey thinks you're important, so either you come and actually get somewhere, or you don't and you get be stuck here for the rest of your life."

Approaching him, Riku stood at an arm's length from Enigma and examined him. The other stared back with the same stoic gaze he seemed to always wear. He was Sora on the outside, but he was far from being Sora in personality.

"Why did you call them my brethren?"

Narrowing his eyes, Enigma asked, "Did you truly undergo a metamorphosis without undergoing an awakening?"

"What?"

Enigma shook his head and gestured for him to follow. "I'll answer your questions later, when we're at a safer place." With that said, he stepped through the crack. Riku followed and was surprised when his feet came down against wet sand.

They were on a beach and Riku was relieved to see that it was night. In the sky was a glowing moon that glared brightly at them, causing Riku to blink when realized that the light wasn't causing him pain. Jutting from the ground were strange arches that reached into the dark liquid of the ocean and peppered about the area were dark and glossy rocks.

Stepping towards one of the black boulders, Enigma waved his hands about him in a sweeping gesture. "This place is the Forgotten World," he informed Riku. "This is our genesis."

Riku was about to question him when his foot struck against something hard and he stumbled. Enigma casually reached out and caught him. Nodding curtly at the warrior, Riku scowled and searched the ground, his hands coming across the object that had nearly caused him to trip.

"A glass bottle?" he asked, giving Enigma a questioning look. Inside it was a scroll, so old that it was browning. 

"Messages in a bottle," Enigma said with a smirk. He took it from Riku and upturned the bottle, shaking out the contents. A rolled up paper slid out, after unfurling it, he read what was on the parchment. "…Sora."

Riku's head came up. "Huh?"

"That's what the paper says," Enigma replied. He shoved it back into the bottle and tossed it aside. "Sometimes a person's voice will manifest itself in strange ways. Like that bottle over there, I guess someone wanted to meet Sora badly and tried calling out to him. Who knows, maybe it was you."

"Strange…" Riku murmured.

"To you maybe, but this is just something that happens a lot here," Enigma said. "Perhaps you haven't realized it yet, but nothing is normal here."

"What did you mean about this place being our genesis?" Riku asked. "I wasn't born here."

Enigma smiled. "I'm talking about the origin of the Unknown, which is what you and I are."

"The… Unknown?"

"Those beings you saw before, the ones dressed like us, we're like them, something about us was different from other people, and that something changed us into the Unknown."

"But what are they?" Riku asked.

"Basically the keepers of balance," Enigma said. "Every time there's a misbalance, between light and dark, that's where we step in to make up for it. Most Unknown can't fight against this, it's something that they have to follow, only a select few, like us and the Non-Existent Ones, break that rule."

Sitting on a boulder, Enigma stared off into the sea. "This is where the Non-Existent ones come to see into different parts of time. I've been coming here and hoping that I could find some sort of clue on Sora's whereabouts."

Riku stood where he was and glanced back towards the glass bottle. "Why do you want to look for Sora so badly?"

"He's the key," Enigma murmured. "The key to everything, all my questions and not just that… he'll be needed soon."

Riku bent and picked up the glass bottle. "But you're Sora."

There was a chuckle coming from the rock. "It'd be so much easier if I were." 

Riku caught sight of the slight scowl on the other's face and watched as he stood up. His hands were clenched momentarily into tight fists, but Enigma visibly forced himself to relax. Taking in deep breaths, the sandy blonde turned to face him. Noticing Riku's concern, Enigma gave him a small but reassuring smile.

"There's nothing here," he said. "We might as well go."

"Where next?"

Enigma shrugged. "I really have no idea, I thought you were the one who'd give me a clue to Sora's whereabouts."

Dropping the bottle, Riku gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"Doesn't matter," Enigma said. He walked swiftly past the silver haired boy towards the edge of the beach and stood there, staring at a spot on the ground. There was a sudden light that made Riku step back and turn his head, though in his mind he could see what was happening: Enigma was standing there with his hands raised above his head. His hands, Riku realized, were the source of the light. Fumbling with his blindfold, he quickly tugged it over his eyes.

The ground beneath his feet trembled though beside him, Enigma didn't seem to notice. The other was still and continued remaining still until a monolith of black rock shot into the sky and stopped its ascent when it cleared over three metres. Enigma glanced once back once and stepped forward into the rock. Just like that, he was gone.

Reaching forward with his hand, Riku frowned when his fingers push through the rock, and soon his entire hand was missing. Taking small steps he walked forward into the boulder and just as each half of him was in between two different places, he felt someone grab his hand and pull him forward. He fell forward when Enigma's steadying hand clamped itself onto his shoulder and straightened him.

They were back in the World In Between, and like every other part of the world, they were in an endless corridor that stretched on into absolute darkness. Enigma moved away from behind him and started traversing to the end of the corridor. They came across an intersection where they had the option of going forward, right, left, or back the way they came. Enigma stopped in the middle and stared straight ahead before turning to face his companion.

"Riku."

The blindfolded boy glanced up. "What?"

"Do you know what the Heartless are?"

Creasing his brow, Riku nodded and held a hand up to his chest. "Creatures born from the bodies of those who have had their Hearts stolen."

"And where did you learn this from?" Enigma questioned.

"From. . . people I knew," Riku replied. "What is this about?"

"Heartless go to places where there's a great abundance of darkness," Enigma said. "In order to do this they must travel through here."

It finally dawned on Riku what his friend was leading up to. He stepped closer to Enigma and scanned the corridors, trying to find traces of the dark creatures. There was a swelling of darkness only a few metres away down the hallway to his left. Pulling out the Oblivion he held it ready and faced the corridor's entrance. 

"No need to waste time on them," Enigma said, stepping beside him, both of his hands were empty of weapons. "Our brothers will come soon enough." 

Grabbing Riku's arm, Enigma pulled him down the opposite corridor and kept his hand on his arm as he watched the Heartless flood forward. They paused at the junction, sensing the presence of the two. Snarling, the shadows pressed their noses to the ground as if trying to sniff the two warriors out. One came dangerously close to them and was kicked back by Enigma's booted foot. The shadow fell back and screeched, alerting the other Heartless. The entire band of creatures turned their eyes on the two and hissed in tones that expressed their savage desire for their hearts.

Riku's grip tightened on his weapon and in response, Enigma tightened his grip on Riku's arm. He glanced back and forth between the sandy haired boy and the Heartless. A gust of wind blew past the two, causing their coats to flutter and nearly forcing them back. Digging his heels into the ground, Riku saw the source of the wind: a swirling vortex of purple bolts. Through this portal came the Unknown, their hands outstretched and burning with blue energy.

Beside him, Enigma whispered, "Don't move." Riku did his best to follow the instructions. 

The Heartless forgot about their quarry and whirled about to face the new comers, sensing them as a threat. One leapt forward and was struck by a blue bolt of energy. It was thrown back, its body filling the air with the scent of burnt flesh. Another bolt was enough to finish it off. Confused by the demise of one of their own, the Heartless began making a slow retreat, keeping their glowing eyes on the band of hooded men as they backed away.

In unison, the Unknown raised their hands, and the glowing intensified. Riku winced and steeled himself to the pain. The iron grip on his arm became tight enough to stop the blood flow into his hand. Above their heads, a mass of blue energy formed, churning and rumbling like a storm cloud. Blue bolts broke away from the mass and lanced across the Heartless. In moments the shadow creatures were gone, but the lightning storm continued. One bolt came dangerously close to Riku and was soon followed by another. The boy jumped away, breaking free from Enigma's grip. The energy cloud immediately veered towards Riku and hovered over the boy's head.

"Idiot! _Run!_" Enigma snarled at him and shoved him aside. 

A very confused Riku began running, inches ahead of the arcs of energy that chased after him. He ran blindly, with his hands flung forward, and continued running in the same fashion until his lungs felt as if they were on fire. He groaned when his palms slammed into a wall, the impact nearly shattering his wrists. Another bolt struck the ground inches away. The next one would hit him if he didn't continue moving. Flinging himself to the side, he came across another wall and felt along it until his hands came across a knob. Twisting it he threw the door open and dove in. 

He was surprised when he continued falling.

Enigma ground his teeth and kicked another one of the Unknown aside. It crashed into the wall directly opposite of the warrior and slid to the ground. Another tried walking past him to pursue Riku, but Enigma grabbed a handful of the Unknown's jacket and flung it backwards. None of them tried fighting him for the sole reason that Enigma was a welcomed visitor. Riku, on the other hand, was not. Only Unknown that had gone through a complete metamorphosis would be able to travel through these corridors without worry of coming into harm when they came across another of its kind.

Once again cursing the boy for his stupidity, Enigma kicked another hooded man, sending him flying. If only Riku had listened to him and kept contact. Up until now it'd been Enigma's aura that had been shielding Riku's presence from the Unknown. Separating the contact had separated him from Enigma's protection.

There was a fizzle and the room became considerably dark. Enigma glanced up to see the energy cloud gone, and when he turned to face the Unknown, he saw them moving away, lost and directionless as usual with only the intent of fulfilling their two goals: keeping the balance of the cosmos and preventing any foreigners from entering the World in Between. This sudden change in the Unknown only meant that Riku had escaped from the World in Between.

He stood there and watched as the Unknown disappeared from sight and soon began heading down the corridor that Riku had run into. The scorch marks on the ground were telltale signs of the chase and he found himself inside a corridor that had come to a dead end. There were two doors at the back and glancing from left to right, Enigma assumed that Riku had escaped through one of these two doors. He had a 50% chance of guessing right and the same chance in guessing wrong. 

Shrugging, he chose a door--it wasn't as if he would not be able to come back.

* * *

Well wasn't that a heap full of information?? Still doesn't clear up too much, I realize, but I think we're going down a very obvious path. Some things to note is the fact that the hooded people in Deep Dive aren't really called the Unknown. It's just this unofficial term some fans coined up for them and I've come to know them as... Unknown... er.. ok, that was an awkward sentence. O_o 

Anyway, it seems that Enigma and Riku's been separated, awww!! After just meeting up!!! Oh well, I can promise that in the future chapters that these two will be uniting again but for now Enigma and Riku's gonna be having a few adventures on their own. The old FF crew from Kingdom Hearts are gonna be coming back... along with Sephiroth (Hee hee) and a few others. Ok, I'm gonna admit that I'm not really a Sephiroth fangirl but I'm enjoying the role I have planned up for him. Ooooh but saying too much is gonna spoil it for ya guys. Hmmm what else am I forgetting? Oh right, any Leon and Yuffie fans out there are gonna be disappointed as I love Squinoa and just can't bear to see my favourite pairing broken up. It's like... putting Tidus and Selphie together when Tidus and Yuna are clearly meant for each other... it's just wrong!! Ah yes, better stop talking, ok, next chapter, we'll be seeing Enigma's story and his interaction with the people in the world he lands in. 

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 

Deja Vu, who's a wonderful beta reader who even reviews!! 

Chibigenius: Glad you're liking the fic and yeah, I know it was a real stretch to have Kairi fighting and winning against Tidus but taking in all of the factors that she's been training since she returned to Destiny Islands and the fact that Tidus was going easy on her, well it's pretty inevitable that she'd get a victory. It's more of an ego booster for her than anything... but that's for later chapters. Ah, and someone who's not a Final Fantasy fan, well I hope you can bear with me with some of the future fics, lol. 

Dragonmaster Dyne: Ah, glad you liked my little easter eggs, though whether or not Auron and Yuna will be playing a bigger role is up to my muses to decide. ^_~ 

Koorino Megumi: Whew! Glad you liked the last chapter, I was actually nervous about it since there seems to be very few Kairi fans. I also really wanted to include the scene between Kairi and Sora's mother since that was the one thing that I was sorely disappointed with in Kingdom Hearts: Sora never showing any sort of concern for his _family_!! I don't know about anyone else here, but I'd be bawling my eyes out if I realized that my parents were possibly dead. Ah well, at least it gave me some ideas. *G* 

Cynthia Chen: I share your joy! _Brings out the champange and cookies_ Ok, odd food combinations but I am definitely elated over the fact that there really IS going to be a sequel. I hope that it does live up to my expecations... but then again FFX-2 didn't and I'm really looking forward to that game. lol. Oh, and who says Riku/Sora is bad? Heh, I just happen to find Sora+Kairi really sweet, ok I'm a sucker for sap. (Ok, I admit that I do happen to like the idea of Riku/Tidus as Dragonmaster Dyne's "Gone Too Far" fic has converted me even though Tidus+Yuna still holds a special place in my heart.) 

shadowwind: Thanks for the review!! Of course I'm gonna keep this up and I'm glad you like my writing!!! 


	5. Meeting You

**Behind the Darkness**

**By: Naela**

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

Chapter Five: Seeing You

He heard the door slam shut behind him as he began falling. It was just about the only sound he heard, aside from the wind that howled in his ears. His other four senses had become absolutely useless. He couldn't see in this abyss of what seemed like unending darkness. There was nothing to smell, and the only thing he could feel was his body plummeting head first towards an unknown world.

Falling at such an incredible speed had little effect on Enigma. This was how people travelled to other worlds when they chose to go through a door instead of using dimensional portals. The first time was always disorienting, but one would eventually become accustomed to it--at least that was what he'd been told. He remembered little of his first trip, just that he'd been fairly young at the time. 

Ahead, he could see the approaching world, at first a speck that was barely noticeable against the unbroken backdrop of darkness. That speck rapidly grew into a massive planet, the blue oceans becoming moredetailed by the second. Around him, a shield of fire erupted, surrounding his body like a powerful aeroga spell that was meant to protect rather than harm. 

There was a loud splash and then a hiss from his fiery shield, extinguishing when his body broke through the surface of the ocean. The water did very little to deter his plummet, and he crashed _hard_ into the ocean's bottom, sending a storm cloud of silky sand billowingaround him. He gasped sharply when his head banged against the ground, making him see an explosion of bright neon colours. 

Enigma choked when the sandy water flooded into his mouth, and he quickly spat it out, losing the precious oxygen he had remaining in the process. Clamping one hand over his mouth, he kicked towards the surface, sending up another spray of dust. 

Even if he was an Unknown, he still needed oxygen to function, and the lack of air made its took its toll on his muscles. The Unknown were supposed to be super human, and that was the miracle of why he wasn't being crushed by the pressure of the ocean; they were supposed to give him incredible powers, but he found at this moment that his powers were useless. 

His hand reached up and penetrated the waters, reaching out into the cool air. Kicking hard again, he broke through the surface and felt a hand clamp onto his. Staring upwards, he could see the blurry outline of another figure staring down at him through the water. This figure reached forward and grabbed his other hand. His body scraped against the coarse wood of a crudely built canoe, and he was thrown onto his back. He coughed and saw his saviour come into his line of sight. 

Enigma's gaze locked onto a pair of blue eyes, and he realized that he knew this person. Distantly, he heard a very feminine voice talking to him. He assumed that the owner of the blue eyes was also the owner of the voice. 

"Hey, come on, stay with me," her tone was laced with panic as her hand hovered over his mouth. She looked relieved when she felt his breath escape from his lips. 

His vision, he realized, had an irritating border of darkness that was slowly growing larger. A part of his mind demanded sleep, and Enigma fought back against the natural order. He wanted to stay with this girl for as long as he could, he had left her behind before. 

Had he been in a full state of consciousness, Enigma would have questioned how he knew that. He would have also wondered why he chose to call the girl by her name when he shouldn't have known her name. Reaching forward, he grasped onto her hand and felt her stiffen.

"Kairi…" he croaked. 

He smiled weakly when he heard her gasp and place her other hand over their clasped ones. Her head dipped forward, and Enigma inwardly cursed the creeping darkness in his vision. Half of her face was obscured by it, but still he could see the other half, and his smile grew wider at the sight of it. 

Satisfied, Enigma allowed himself to fall into unconsciousness. 

***

The first thing Enigma realized when he awoke was that his mouth tasted like salt and it was unbearably dry. He tried swallowing to compensate for the lack of moisture, and he blinked a few times when he realized that his eyes also felt dry. 

Turning onto his side, he found himself staring at what appeared to be a child's room, toys were strewn all over the place, and it was decorated in a fashion that only a child would find satisfying. Confused, he pushed himself off a bed that was just a little too small for him, as his feet were dangling off its edge. 

Sitting beside him, propped up in a chair, was a girl whom Enigma assumed was his saviour. She was staring silently at him and smiled when their gazes met. "Good morning… or should I say afternoon?" she asked as her eyes darted towards the window. "You've been asleep for quite a while." 

"How long?" Enigma asked and winced, his throat felt like raw meat. 

"Less than a day." Her eyes became narrow as she recalled the information. "Probably five hours or so." 

Slowly, Enigma pushed himself up on his elbows and winced as his muscles strained against the effort. His body felt as if he'd been running a marathon around the entire stretch of the World in Between. Taking in a laboured breath, he drew his gaze towards the window and blinked at the sight of the vast, peaceful ocean--the same ocean that had nearly swallowed him only hours ago. In the distance, not too far away, he saw a small island laden with palm trees and an assortment of tropical flora. 

"What… I mean, where am I?" he asked, turning towards the girl for an answer. 

"Destiny Islands," she answered, her smile growing wider. 

Staring back across the azure waters, Enigma felt a memory tugging at the edges of his mind. This place was supposed to be important to him. "Destiny Islands…" the words rolled off his tongue. The name was familiar, but where he'd heard them he couldn't recall. 

Behind him, he heard the girl's chair sliding back and then her soft footsteps as she drew to the back of the room. Tearing his eyes away from the panoramic view, Enigma turned back to her. The girl was about his age and was dressed in a short, light purple skirt and white tank top that were fit for the warm temperatures of the islands. 

"You're not from this world, right?" she asked. 

Now there was a surprising question, and it made Enigma raise an eyebrow. Normally, not many were aware of the fact that there were other worlds. Most were usually satisfied with the confines of their own world. They rarely considered the possibility of there being other places beyond the barriers of their home. 

She grinned at his expression and held both her hands behind her back. "I thought so," she said. "The fact that you dropped out of the sky was a big clue." 

"I see," Enigma said. He winced slightly as he positioned his body so that his feet were firmly planted on the ground. His jacket, he noted, was gone, and his normal dark attire was replaced with a white, short sleeved shirt and blue shorts. 

Seeing his pain, she was immediately by his side, with a hand on his shoulder as she tried to gently push him back. "You shouldn't be getting up," she scolded. "You nearly drowned for Hyne's sake!" 

"I heal quickly," Enigma replied tersely. 

"You're still human," she said. Now both her hands were on his shoulders and her blue eyes were staring deeply into his. 

Enigma stared back, startled by her intense gaze. Part of him felt calm, as if staring into her eyes was the most natural thing to do, as if he'd done it a million times before. All his worries simply vanished when he saw them. 

Once the initial shock had worn off, Enigma frowned and slowly peeled both her hands off his shoulders. "I'm fine," he coldly reassured her and released his grip on her wrists. 

"Oh…" the girl said. "Well, I haven't caught your name yet. I'm Kairi, though… I think you already knew that." 

She extended a hand in greeting, and Enigma stared at it. Slowly, he accepted the hand, and she shook it vigorously. Enigma pulled his hand away in annoyance and stared warily at the girl. "I'm… Sor--" he bit down on his lip. "--Enigma." 

He dropped his gaze to the ground, astounded at how he had nearly confused his name with someone else's. Enigma had never done that before, and he wondered why of all names he had nearly let _that_ one slip. He cursed Riku for planting the idea into his head. 

Bringing his gaze up, he realized that the girl was staring at him with a wide-eyed look. He frowned as he glanced around, wondering if there was something in the room that was shocking her. 

"What is it?" he asked, unable to locate the source of her surprise. 

Blinking, the girl shook her head and forced a smile. "It's nothing," she said. "I mean… well, uh… you just remind me of someone." 

Stepping up to him, she brushed aside his lightly coloured hair, revealing his blue eyes, which contrasted sharply against his pale features. Her hand lingered near his cheek before she pulled it away and clasped it behind her back. 

"I had a special friend who went away a while ago, to find another friend who'd gone off to another world," she explained. "They've been gone since then, and I've been waiting here for them. I just thought for a minute there that you were him." 

Shifting uneasily on the bed, Enigma returned his gaze to the ground. He knew what would be coming next. 

"He was Sora." 

A heavy sigh escaped him. Kairi frowned and leaned forward. "Did I say something wrong?" 

"No, nothing." 

"You're lying!" Kairi exclaimed. "Something I said _did_ bother you." 

"It's nothing!" Enigma retorted. 

Leaning forward, she smiled at him. "When you get angry like that… you really resemble Sora," she said, pointing a finger teasingly at him. 

"I'm not Sora!" 

Kairi clasped a hand over her mouth and giggled; her scepticism was all too apparent. "If you say so," she replied, winking in an exaggerated manner. 

Turning towards a small table in the corner of the room, she picked up a tray and plopped it down on his lap. Enigma was careful not to make any sudden movements when he saw that on the tray were plates and bowls full of food. 

"Eat up," Kairi said. She headed for the door and paused with her hand was resting on the knob. "Sora's mother cooked it." 

She was gone, leaving only a closed door and a thoroughly confused warrior behind.

***

It was dark when Enigma awoke, but there was enough light from the night sky for him to make out the shadowed objects in the room. He couldn't remember when he'd fallen asleep, and he supposed that the strain of the day had taken its toll on him. 

Enigma sat up and found to his satisfaction that his movements were no longer as agonizingly slow as before. He hadn't been lying when he had told Kairi that he healed quickly. An Unknown that couldn't fight because it was injured was a worthless creature. Injuries as minor as his were gone with a few hours of sleep. 

Swinging his feet over the edge of the bed, he stood up and stretched. Though the bed was uncomfortable, he had to admit that it did put him at ease. In fact, this entire room was familiar, though he could have sworn he'd never been here before. Of course, there was always the possibility that he'd been here during a time when he actually had a real name. 

Going towards the far wall, he switched on the light and winced at the sight of the place. It was certainly a child's room and looked as if its previous occupant had left it in a hurry not too long ago, as there were toys and other childish objects strewn all over the place. The dust and cobwebs that many of these objects had collected stated otherwise. This was a room that'd been abandoned and left alone for years. 

Tugging awkwardly on his t-shirt, Enigma's eyes scanned the room, searching for his normal clothing. There was no sign of it, though he did spot a closet door. There was a possibility that whoever had undressed him had tossed his clothes in there. Approaching the door, he opened it and immediately sneezed when a cloud of dust invaded his sinuses. Bringing a hand up to his nose, he turned away and slammed the door shut. He doubted his clothes were in there with that much dust. Enigma sighed and decided to just ask Kairi where his stuff had been placed. 

Opening the door, he stepped into a darkened hallway and paused as he approached the steps. Below him a light was turned on. Enigma peeked over the railing and saw the back of a woman's head. He could tell immediately that she wasn't Kairi. Backing away from the stairs, Enigma turned and looked for an alternative route to get down. Most of the doors he opened led to bedrooms and closets, and none of them had his clothes. 

The last door of the hall led to a bathroom. His eyes lit up when he spotted his clothing--the leather jacket that nearly reached his boots, the black shirt and pants, they were all here, draped over the shower bar to dry. Tugging them down, he examined his jacket; it was still the same, a little worn with the strain of combat but not ruined after his little dunk in the ocean. Bundling the clothing in one arm, he strolled out of the washroom and was about to head back to the child's room when he paused. 

Why was it that he was given a room with a bed that was obviously too small for him when there were other bedrooms that appeared unoccupied? 

He got his answer when his eyes came upon a framed picture that hung on the wall next to him. In it was a family of three: a father, a mother, and their son. The boy looked young, barely past ten, and he was grinning like an idiot. What made Enigma frown was the eerie resemblance between himself and the boy. There were a few differences, but the boy bore enough similar features to almost be a younger reflection of Enigma. 

Enigma's grip on his clothing tightened, and he could almost hear the leather stretch. He stared towards the door that led to the child's room and then back towards the picture. He finally understood. 

"You must be Sora," he said softly to the picture. He turned towards the stairs and stared directly at the aged woman. "Your son." 

She stood there, dressed in a faded blue dress that reached towards her knees and was wrapped in a lacy shawl. Her brown hair was a mess, and some strands had strayed to cover her eyes. The woman held his gaze and even graced him with a pleasant smile. 

"He'd be about your age now," she replied and went directly to the picture to straighten it, even though it didn't require readjusting. 

"What a coincidence," Enigma muttered. He didn't notice when the woman pulled the bundle of clothing he held out of his grip. 

"You should be in bed," she said as she folded the clothing and then handed it back to him. 

Enigma stared at the folded clothing. "I'm fine," he said, telling her the same line he'd used to reassure Kairi. "I heal fast." 

Unlike Kairi, the woman didn't protest. She merely pursed her lips into thin red lines and nodded, though disapproval was finely etched on her brow. Enigma averted his eyes and felt the urge to escape from that gaze. Slowly, he moved towards the room he'd been given and paused at the door. Glancing up, he saw that she was still staring at him, though this time with an almost wistful look. 

"I'm sorry about your son," he said, and quickly clamped his mouth shut. What a strange thing to say; even stranger was that the condolence was a product of his need to comfort this person, a woman he shouldn't know. 

"I've had five years to accept it," the woman replied. She smiled ruefully. "You'd think… that the pain would lessen by now." 

A spike of guilt, one that was driven into his back and piercing through his chest. "He must have been an ungrateful child," he said. 

There was a flash of anger in her eyes as she quickly shook her head. "No! Sora was always a loving and wonderful son!" 

"I'm… sorry," it was all Enigma could say. 

"Never mind," the woman said; her eyes lost their anger, and the two lapsed into silence. Enigma was staring away, unable to meet the woman's gaze. He knew exactly what she was thinking when she looked at him like that. 

He glanced up when he heard a sound escape from her lips. She was crying; he saw the tears clearly and saw how she vainly tried to wipe them away, only succeeding in smearing them across her cheeks. The woman saw his stare and quickly turned away, but he could still see her shoulders shaking and could still hear her sobs. 

Closing his eyes, he came to a decision and stepped forward, placing his hands on her shoulders. He gently spun her around and pulled her into an embrace. She cried into his chest, and on occasion he could hear her muttering for her son. 

"I want him back," she cried. "I want my little baby back." 

"He'll be back," Enigma soothed. "I'm sure he will." 

Stepping back, she glanced up at him and forced a smile. "But isn't he already?" 

Enigma remained silent as he began leading her towards a bedroom. He presumed that the one that looked the most lived in was where she slept. He left her there, closing the door behind him, and headed for the washroom. There he changed back into his normal attire and made his way out of the house. 

Most of the island was asleep; only a few houses had their lights switched on. From the top of the hill, he could see the entire place. A supposed paradise, he imagined, where children played all day and parents relaxed, no worries, no sorrow. 

A corner of his lip turned upwards as he made his way down the hill, ignoring the chilly breeze and the absolute emptiness of the island. He walked about, exploring the small area before ending up on wooden pier. It was crudely built looked ready to collapse; tied onto the posts were wooden canoes. The pier was pointing towards that small island he'd seen earlier that day. 

Sitting himself down, he stared upwards. There were fewer stars than before. Worlds were disappearing, and here he was, just idly sitting and admiring the scenery. He turned when he heard footsteps, and he saw Kairi approaching him. He didn't invite her to sit beside him, but she did anyway, holding her hands in her lap. 

"You look okay," she said. 

Enigma shrugged and continued staring at the sky. 

"You'll be leaving soon?" 

"Yes." 

"Oh…" She shivered as a cold wind brushed against them, and she leaned closer towards him. "What are you doing out here anyway?" 

"I could ask you the same thing," Enigma retorted. 

"I saw you wandering around from my room," she said and grinned. "I thought I'd follow you." 

"Figures." 

"If you're leaving soon," Kairi said. "Then can you do me a small favour?" 

Turning to face her, Enigma raised an eyebrow. "What?" 

"I have two friends that are missing. You know about Sora… but then there's Riku." There was a nearly pained look on her face as she thought of her missing friend. "He disappeared around the same time as Sora." 

"Riku…" Enigma said the name. He thought of the wayward boy. "He has silver hair?" 

Kairi glanced sharply at him. "You… you've seen him?" 

Enigma nodded. "I was travelling with him only a while ago; we got separated, and I ended up here." 

"I wonder if he'll come back soon," Kairi murmured. Her gaze had turned from him, and it seemed as if she were speaking to the stars. 

Enigma remained silent as a strong gust of wind blew up behind them and forced his hood over his head. He grunted in annoyance and pulled it down. Turning to face the girl, he saw her blinking wide eyed at him. 

"What is it?" he asked. 

Realizing that she had been staring, the girl pulled back and shook her head. "Nothing!" she blurted. "I… uh… was just thinking." 

"About?" Enigma pressed on. 

Kairi clenched a hand into a small fist and held it against her heart. "That you reminded me of someone." 

A frustrated sigh escaped Enigma's lips. "Sora," he stated. Shaking his head, he thought of how irritating it was getting to be every time someone confused him with the elusive boy. 

"Actually…" Kairi began and let the thought trail. She glanced up at him and studied him in the same manner as she'd done earlier that day. The way she stared at him, with her eyes looking hopefully for a sign of the boy she cared for, made Enigma shift uneasily. 

"Do you really think I'm him?" 

There was silence as the girl mulled over her answer. "Yes," she said with an almost shy expression. 

Enigma nodded, though not appearing too pleased with her response. "Because I look like him," he said. 

"Yes," she said softly. She reached up with her hand and touched his face. He closed his eyes as she brushed aside his light bangs. Smiling, she let her hand drift downwards until it was on his chest. "But also because I can feel it." 

The warrior opened his eyes and held his hand over hers, gripped it tightly. "In some deeper sense I do feel as if I'm Sora," he admitted. "On another level I don't quite believe that I'm him." 

"Then we'll go find him," Kairi replied. "We'll search every world, and if we can't find him then you'll know that you _are_ Sora." 

He pulled his hand away. "It's not that simple; what if we miss him on one world? What if we leave a place and he goes back to it?" 

"Stop making things so complicated," Kairi scolded, waving a finger in his face. "Things will come together, simple as that." 

Feeling a corner of his lips tugging into a smile, Enigma allowed himself the pleasure of a smirk. "Your method is going to take an entire life time and more." 

"We have time," Kairi replied. She held a hand over her mouth as she giggled. 

Gracing her with a smile, Enigma partly wondered in the back of his mind if the real Sora actually knew how lucky he was to have so many caring friends. 

***

The sound of children laughing and screaming echoed into the far recesses of the tiny cave. It was barely large enough to fit the hooded warrior, but somehow he'd managed to crawl his way inside. He'd sensed the door immediately when he arrived at the children's paradise and headed directly for it, forgetting about his original intent of meeting the other residents of the island. 

Mould and other brown fungi thrived on the slimy rocks of the cave. It was surprisingly cool, with a sandy floor and tree roots that had managed to burrow their way through underground and were exposed in the open space of the cave. 

The cave contained a collection of horribly drawn images scratched on the rock. Etched on the walls were dreams of adventure, huge looking birds, and even names of those who had visited the place and the year they had visited. His eyes, however, were drawn to the door. 

"Enigma?" a voice shouted into the cave. 

Turning to face the entrance, Enigma said, "I'm here!" 

There were footsteps; he heard the familiar soft sound of rubber-soled shoes crunching sand against hard rock, and then Kairi rounded a corner. Her gaze drifted from drawing to drawing on the wall before landing on him. Placing her hand gently against the cool surface of the rock wall, she smiled at him. 

"What are you doing here?" she asked. 

Enigma nodded towards the door. "This thing drew me here." 

A panic stricken expression came across her face. "You're leaving?" 

"I need to find Riku," Enigma explained. 

"Then… just wait a second." Kairi dashed out of the cave, nearly tripping over a tree root as she made a hasty exit. 

Enigma brought his eyes to the ceiling and called to whatever celestial being there was for strength. Bringing his gaze back towards the cave walls, his eyes landed on a drawing. It was a simple collection of scratches that formed a crude image of two people giving each other a star. 

_ Paopu fruit._

Exchanging their destinies so they could share the same one. Enigma smiled and wondered what two children would do that. His attention was brought to the entrance when he heard Kairi's thudding footsteps against the floor. She came to a halt inches away from him with her hands on her knees as she took in deep breaths. 

"I… here…" she managed to say in between breaths. 

"I can see," Enigma said, his eyes on the staff she had strapped to her back. "What do you need that for?" 

Kairi grinned sheepishly at him and took out the staff, twirling it expertly in between her fingers before holding it towards him. "If we're gonna go and find Riku, then we're bound to come across some dangerous creatures, so I'm gonna need this to protect myself." 

"We?" Enigma asked. 

"Yes, we!" Kairi exclaimed, smacking the cave floor hard with the end of her staff. "I'm not going to leave you!" 

Enigma was in no mood to argue; the need to just leave the island was an overwhelming feeling, and to waste time arguing about whether or not the girl could come wasn't a high priority on his schedule. He shrugged at her and saw the girl's eyes light up; her vehemence quickly melted away, leaving only elation behind. 

"You're not going to regret bringing me along, Enigma!" she said, swinging her staff and nearly clubbing the warrior on the side of his head. "This time, I'll fight! I won't need Sora or Riku or anyone to protect me." 

Enigma caught the wildly swinging staff with one hand and brought it down. "If that's so, then I hope you're good." 

Wagging a finger at Enigma, Kairi pulled the staff out of his grip. "I've been training since I was fourteen; I think I can handle myself." 

"I can see," Enigma muttered and quickly ducked a wide swing of the staff. Taking a few large steps away from the girl, Enigma eyed her warily. "I think it'd be best if we left." 

Calming down, Kairi frowned at him. "What about saying goodbye?" she asked. "Tidus and Selphie and Wakka wanted to meet you." 

"I don't need to see them," Enigma replied. He thought of the woman sitting alone in a house on the hill. "Besides… goodbyes hurt too much." 

Kairi stared at him questioningly and saw Enigma wasn't going to expand on what he'd just said. Instead, he stepped up to the door, reached into his jacket and pulled out a weapon. She gasped sharply at the sight of the keyblade. _Her_ keyblade, the one that she had given to Sora, was now in _his_ hands. 

"What is it?" 

"Nothing!" Kairi answered immediately but saw his scepticism.He didn't question her any further and held his keyblade towards the door. The very tip began glowing white, and, before him on the surface of the door, the shape of a glowing keyhole appeared. A beam of light jumped from the Oathkeeper to the keyhole, and there was the soft but very clear sound of a lock being released. 

Lowering the keyblade, he stepped back and silently watched as the door shook, as if pressing against an unseen force, and finally swung open. Behind it was a world completely obscured by darkness. Enigma faced Kairi, with one hand stretched towards her,and stared at her expectantly. 

Gingerly, she took a step forward. Kairi held one hand against her chest as if to calm her rapidly beating heart. Reaching out with her other hand, she took Enigma's and was pulled forward into the darkness. Behind them, the door slammed shut.

* * *

Yay!! Kairi's joined the adventure now, how well her journey with Enigma will be depends on the fates... ME!! So with Enigma having landed in Destiny Islands, we've received small clues to his past. I think it's become blindingly obvious who he is but for the sake of the story we'll keep up with this little charade. The best part of writing this chapter would have been the interaction between Enigma and Sora's mother. I'm sorry to those of you who would have liked Enigma meeting up with Tidus et all but hey! Who says this is the last time we'll be seeing Destiny Islands? ^_~ 

On another note, I'd like to thank Koorino Megumi for beta reading this chapter along with Deja Vu (I'm very sorry for what happened!!). Next chapter is more focused on Riku, we'll find out where he's ended up and just what he might do about his situation!! 

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 

Destiny: LOL Thank you very much for your review, I try my hardest to make each chapter enjoyable to read but as for the mystery factor... well that was really unintentional!! 

Chibigenius: Actually, that was pretty fun to write as well, Riku's always been a bit naive in my opinion anyway. And the fact that he's literally and figuratively stepping into a new world (several new worlds in fact) has made him a little how shall I put this? A little dumb!! 

shadowwind: Oh that part, well, I'm not certain if I've made it clear enough, but Enigma really has no clue about his past and he's been around a few people that's really influenced the development of his personality. Enigma in short is just as his name states thought pretty soon everything will be unravelled. 

Refugee: Wow!! A threat from one of my favourite authors! Oh yeah... I can definitely relate to you about keeping authors guessing... COUGH COUGH HINT HINT!! 

Dragonmaster Dyne: Well I wouldn't really worry too much about Squinoa seeing how this fic's revolving around Enigma, Kairi and Riku and of course I'd mention your fic, it's great!! 

Koorino Megumi: Once again, THANK YOU FOR BETA READING!! And also, the typing errors would be due to the fact that the chapter was a little bit rushed during the beta reading process and of course you had to spot em!! :P Action sequences are fun to write and don't be shy about your theories!! 

Cynthia Chen: Ah... Enigma... well he's certinaly... enigmatic XD!!!! 


	6. Remembrance

**Behind the Darkness**

**By: Naela**

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

Chapter Six: Remembrance

There was a waterfall that drained into a lake, and located behind it was a small crevice. It had been merely a small nook, but after Riku's impact into the rock face, it'd become a shallow cave. No one would have noticed the change. The incessant downpour of water hid the cave like a shimmering blue shield.

He was half buried beneath a pile of rocks, small little boulders that poking at him, and he'd been like that since his arrival on the new world. It wasn't because Riku had been rendered unconscious from the impact. It was because Riku couldn't find the will to move his body. He lay prone on his side with one arm stretched out and his head using it as a pillow. 

The sprays of mist dampened his hair, and it only took a few hours before his entire body was drenched. He sneezed a few times and could almost feel his organs tearing apart. He couldn't muster the effort to wince at the warmth that pooled around his stomach. 

Internal bleeding… throbbing headache… darkened vision… fractured ribcage.

Riku had always wondered how it would feel to die slowly.

It was day, and beyond the waterfall was a clear blue sky with clouds that parted for rays of sunlight to flood the world. 

_I wish I could have seen Kairi at least once before I…_

"Hmph… and they call _me_ a lazy bum."

It took him a few seconds before the voice finally clicked in his mind and all the memories of what the words 'lazy bum' meant to him. Slowly, he brought his eyes up and only saw a steady stream of light that obscured every detail of the world. Riku narrowed his eyes, forcing them to focus. His vision blurred at the strain, and over the loud din of the roaring waterfall, he heard the sound of feet scraping against wet rock.

At first he was just a blob of black against a backdrop of infinite white, but as the blob neared it took on a form until it became the figure of a boy. Riku watched as the boy stopped before him but all he could see was the yellow material that the boy's shoes were made of.

"Hmmm…" The boy backed away a few steps and leaned forward, his hands resting against his knees as he stared right into Riku's face.

"Well… actually you really don't look that well," the boy remarked and straightened. "I guess crashing into a planet without using a protection spell will do that to you, huh?"

He walked a few steps away from Riku and stopped. Glancing over his shoulder at the silver haired boy, he grinned toothily at him. "But does that mean you're giving up already?" he asked. "Come on, I thought you were stronger than this."

Walking further away, the boy disappeared from sight. Riku heard the clear rattling of metal, and the boy appeared in his field of vision again, this time holding a pair of keyblades: the Kingdom Key and the Oblivion. Stopping, the boy laid both keyblades on the ground beside Riku and leaned forward again. "The keyblade's cool and all," he said. "But you've got a better weapon… your heart."

Leaning forward, the boy pressed his hand lightly against Riku's chest, over his heart. A soft green glow surrounded the boy's palm and fingers. That glow spread from his hand to Riku's chest and swelled across the silver haired boy's body. Closing his eyes, Riku felt a wave of ease wash over him.

Opening them again, he saw the boy tugging at the rocks that pinned his body. The boy grunted and cast a meaningful glance towards him. "Come on and help. I can't do this all by myself!" the boy exclaimed.

Nodding, Riku pushed himself off the ground, and rocks began to tumble off his body. The boy stepped back as Riku wriggled himself free. Once he was able to stand, Riku brushed himself off and turned to face the boy, examining him. The boy stared back, frowning slightly, and glanced from left to right as if not realizing that he was the object of Riku's attention.

"Huh?" the boy vocalized. He lifted an eyebrow. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Sora," Riku said and saw the boy frown at him.

"Yeah?" 

"This isn't real, is it?" he asked. 

Sora smiled sadly at him and nodded.

Turning away from the illusion, Riku squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. "Then I don't want to see you!" he snapped. 

"Riku…" 

"GO AWAY!"

There was silence as moments passed. Sighing heavily, Riku slowly turned and recoiled at the amber coloured eyes that stared back at him. Ansem smiled at him. Riku backpedalled, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head furiously.

"You're not real!"

He came up against the wall and forced himself to open his eyes. There was nothing, no Sora, no Ansem. He saw no one, but he certainly could see. Riku blinked and held his hands in front of him, seeing them in clear detail for the first time in years. The cave around him was dark and misty, but he could still see it! Running out of the cave, through the waterfall, and into open space, he grinned at the landscape that greeted him. 

He could see!

He could see… Hollow Bastion.

Riku's grin fell, and he felt his heart creeping into his throat. Swallowing hard, he nearly retreated into the cave as memories of his battle against his best friend resurfaced. Sora had had no intent to kill him during their duel, but Riku had had every intention to kill him. 

Ducking back underneath the waterfall, Riku lowered his head. There were hundreds of worlds, and out of all the worlds he could have stumbled into, it had to be here. Stepping back, his foot thudded against the keyblades on the ground, and the gentle nudge sent the Kingdom Key scattering across the rocky floor. 

Bending over, he picked the Oblivion and willed it to disappear. The keyblade vanished from sight, and Riku picked up the Kingdom Key. His grip on its handle turned his knuckles white.

"My strongest weapon…" Riku murmured. He held a hand against his heart. How could it have been possible for an illusion to pick up solid objects or for it to cast healing spells and remove the blindness in his eyes?

He thought of his best friend and what he would have done in a situation like this. Sora, no matter what the situation, never backed down.

"Didn't know you thought of me that way."

He turned and saw Sora again, appearing as if he hadn't aged a day since the last time they'd seen each other. He was sitting on the mound of rocks that Riku had been buried under only minutes before. 

"Didn't I tell you to go away?" Riku asked. While he fully knew that the boy that sat only a few feet away from him was an illusion, part of him wondered if the spectre was more than just that. 

"You thought of me," Sora pointed out. "And poof, here I am again."

"So I'm crazy," Riku muttered. "Guess I hit my head a little too hard."

"I don't know," the boy said. He hopped to his feet and slowly circled Riku. Bringing a hand up to his chin, he smirked. "You seem ok to me. I didn't heal you for nothing." He stopped directly behind Riku and saw the silver haired boy whirl about, his eyes wide open.

"Illusion's can't heal people!" he exclaimed. 

"If I'm not real and you're seeing me, then that makes me an illusion." Sora reached up and rapped his knuckles against Riku's forehead. "See, I'm not tangible!"

Stepping back as Sora withdrew his hand again, Riku reached up and touched the spot that Sora had rapped on. Though Riku had seen it, he hadn't felt it. He felt certain that Sora's knuckles should have made contact with his forehead. Sora's fist had been close enough for Riku to clearly see the lines of the boy's palm.

"Fine," Riku agreed. "You're an illusion, but the fact that I'm _talking_ to you indicates that I've gone crazy."

Sora paused, his eyebrows knitting together and creasing his forehead. "You have a point there."

"I feel so reassured now." Glaring at the Kingdom Key, Riku willed the weapon to dissolve.

The apparition approached the shield of water at the cave's entrance and held his hand out. Though he was not tangible, the illusion was strong enough for Riku's mind to twist his surroundings so it would compensate for Sora's presence. He truly did look like he had a hand stuck into the water.

Sora pulled his hand away from the water and faced him. He noted Riku's scowl and grinned sheepishly. "Guess you're little angry, huh?"

"Now how did you guess?" Riku retorted. He walked up to the boy and swiped his hand through him, watching his hand pass through Sora's chest like a knife cutting through water. 

Patting his hands against his chest, Sora checked to make sure that he was still whole. Looking relieved, he cast a smirk towards Riku. "Well, that was weird." 

Riku placed a hand against his forehead and closed his eyes. He tried to dampen his senses as he felt a headache beginning to form. "You're telling me. What in Hades am I going to do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"How am I going to get off this world?" He looked towards the illusion, hoping vainly that the boy might have an answer. 

The boy shrugged and saw Riku's disappointed look. "Why don't you just go over to Hollow Bastion?" he suggested. "I mean, they may not be key bearers, but at least they know something about travelling in between worlds, right?"

"No," Riku stated firmly. "I won't go to them for help. The people there probably know me and hate me and would kill me before they helped me."

"So you're giving up already?"

"_NO!_" Riku exclaimed. He slammed his fist against the rock wall and felt the burning sensation of pain flare up his arm. "I'm not giving up either."

"Then what are you going to do?" Sora asked. He gestured beyond the waterfall. "Over there is your hope of getting off this planet, and you want to search for me, right? Well just take that risk."

Riku held his throbbing hand up and stared at the ruined leather. Sighing, he dropped his hand and nodded. "I'll go."

Grinning, Sora pumped a fist in the air. "Good luck!" Glancing past the entrance, Sora's grin became a sly smile. "Remember those times we used to race back home?"

Riku knew immediately what the apparition was implying and felt his own smirk beginning to form. "Yeah…" 

Sora inched closer to the entrance. "On the count of three… One… two…"

"Three!" Riku hollered, and he took off at a run.

"Wha--?!" Sora immediately ran after the silver haired boy. "You cheater!"

Ahead, Riku laughed.

***

Riku was leaning against the large pair of double doors, kneeling forward, his hands on his thighs as he took in deep breaths. It'd been a while since he'd let himself simply run for the fun of it, and he had to admit that he wasn't just smiling because he'd won. He never realized how much he'd missed racing against Sora, even if the one he had raced against was just an illusion.

"You won only because I let you."

Riku jumped and nearly let out a small yelp at the sudden appearance of Sora at his side. Only moments before he'd been watching the illusion struggle to clear the floating platforms of the path to castle. The sudden physical exertion made Riku groan as he felt a wave of nausea taking form. He leaned forward and glared at the boy.

"What?" Sora questioned. "It's true!"

"Right," Riku muttered. He took in another deep breath, steadying himself. "The only thing that really matters in the end is that I won and you didn't."

Sora shrugged. "Believe what you want," he said and grinned. Turning to face the doors, he held his hand against the ornate wood and frowned. "So… why are we just standing here? Can't you go in?"

Riku shook his head. "No, I haven't tried yet." He looked embarrassed as he avoided Sora's eyes. "I just wanted to catch my breath just in case…"

The illusion nodded. "Okay, you all caught up?"

"I guess I'm ready as I'll ever be," Riku replied. He leaned forward against the door, placing his weight against it and pushing it open. The door swung inward, moaning loudly enough that Riku was sure he had everyone in the castle to his presence.

Creeping into the main room, he saw that it was empty, though he heard the clear footsteps of a group of people that must have heard his entrance. Ducking behind a pillar, he watched as four people entered the room, all glancing about wildly. They fanned out, walking about the lower area and spotting no one. One of them, a girl, approached the pillar that Riku was hiding behind and leaned against it.

"Weird," she said. "I was sure I heard something."

There was another girl, an older one dressed in pink, who nodded. "Me too," she placed a hand on her abdomen and glanced questioningly towards her companion.

Staring at her without turning his head, the man, a blonde, nodded towards the door. "It's open," he pointed out. "Someone obviously entered." 

"'Nother goddamn Heartless," muttered a man who was significantly older than the blonde. He spoke with a cigarette in his mouth and was surprisingly comprehensible.

"Wonder where it disappeared to?" the younger girl asked. She moved away from the pillar and began running up the stairs, glancing about in search of the elusive shadow. "Not up here!"

"Forget it," the younger blonde said. He approached the door and closed it. "If the Heartless shows up, we'll be ready for it. Let's not waste time searching for it."

"Squall's gonna have a heart attack when he finds out," the younger girl pointed out. 

All eyes were directed to her, and Riku took this chance to duck into another room. Glancing back, he saw no one had noticed his escape, and he turned, walking straight into another man's chest. He fell backwards and glanced up. He flinched when he realized that he was staring at the sharp end of a sword. Its owner looked just as menacing with his nearly expressionless face and muscular build.

You have thirty seconds to explain yourself before I pull the trigger," the swordsman said, his finger hovering over a gun trigger attached to the sword's hilt.

Pulling all fear from the surface, Riku made himself stare straight into the older man's eyes. "I'm not here to hurt anyone," he said. He hoped he'd sounded sincere enough. "I uh… need help…"

The expression on the man's face didn't change, though Riku did notice that his index finger was hovering dangerously close to the trigger. Riku closed his eyes, preparing himself for the worst, and heard the sound of a door being opened. There were light footsteps and a sudden gasp.

Riku glanced up to see a woman dressed in blue with long dark hair at the door, her hand still on the doorknob. She looked quizzically from Riku to the swordsman and back to Riku again. She raised an eyebrow and gave the swordsman a questioning glance. 

The swordsman sighed and lowered his weapon. He relaxed from his defensive stance and stepped back, still eyeing Riku wearily. 

"What is it, Rinoa?" he asked.

The woman quickly composed herself. "Cloud told me to warn you that there was an intruder. They thought it was a Heartless, but from the looks of it, I guess not." 

"Found him sneaking around… well, actually he bumped into me," the man replied.

Rinoa smirked at Riku's heavy blush and slowly approached the swordsman's side. "Well then… welcome to Hollow Bastion," she replied. "Do you… want to get off the ground first?"

Keeping silent, Riku quickly got up. "Thanks," he muttered.

"Now, do you want to explain why you're here?" the man questioned.

Riku glanced at the woman, who gave him a supportive smile, and then towards the hard gaze of the man. "I… well…kinda dropped from the sky." He waited for their reactions and saw the two exchanging glances before Rinoa held up a hand.

"Wait," she said, "I think I'd better go get the others. Why don't you two meet us in the library?"

The man gave her a brief nod, and she left the room. Riku stared questioningly at the man, who gestured for him to go forward. "Library's over there, down the hall."

Nodding, Riku headed in the direction the man had gestured and entered the vast book filled room. The man didn't let him pause to see the types of books that the place contained and instead gestured towards a table. 

"Sit," he commanded.

Riku sat while the man leaned against a shelf. The two waited in silence, and moments later the woman entered the library, followed by the people she'd promised to gather. All of them stared questioningly at him before they took their spots.

"Who's he?" the young girl from before questioned.

"He hasn't told us yet," the swordsman answered. He glanced towards Riku, prompting him.

"I'm Riku."

Most of the people in the room wore blank expressions though the brown haired man, the woman in pink and the young girl all appeared surprised. 

"Riku, as in Sora's friend?" the woman in pink asked.

He glanced up at her. "You know Sora, too?"

She nodded and smiled. "He was a very strong boy."

"So you haven't seen him since he defeated Ansem?" Riku already knew what her answer would be.

The woman nodded and frowned, detecting the troubled look on the Riku's face. "Why? What happened?"

Glancing from one face to another, Riku's eyes landed on the supportive gazes of both the woman in pink and the woman in blue. Their smiles were almost motherly, giving him the strength to continue with his recounting of the past events. "He disappeared a while ago," he replied. "No one's been able to find him since."

"Wait," the swordsman said. "You're the same Riku that helped Maleficent back then."

Now all gazes were staring at him warily. Riku lowered his head to the floor.

"Squall, let him explain," Rinoa said softly. She approached his side and placed a hand on Squall's shoulder. "Please, Riku, continue?"

"Go on." Riku glanced up to see that it'd been the spiky haired blonde who had spoken. 

"Start at the beginning," the woman in pink urged. "What happened in Kingdom Hearts?"

"I didn't really see the battle," Riku admitted. "But it began with Ansem taking possession of my body…"

***

They'd left the library and left Riku sitting stiffly in his chair. The woman in pink, Aerith, had reassured him that they were only going to discuss his situation and try to find a solution. In the meantime, he should just entertain himself by reading a book.

Riku decided not to mention the fact that he could hardly read past fifty pages in a book. He politely nodded at her and watched them file out of the room. He glanced up when the door opened and held a hand to his forehead when he saw Sora entering.

The illusion crossed his arms across his chest. "What? You don't like my company anymore?"

"You're an _illusion_," Riku replied. "What will the others say when they see me talking to you? It's bad enough that I know I'm crazy, but I don't need them thinking that, too."

"Let them think…" Sora stopped as he stared down at his body. He stared quizzically at Riku and saw that the silver haired boy was just as confused. The lower half of his body, from his feet up to his torso, was nearly transparent. 

Riku approached the illusion, his arms held out but unable to do anything. The illusion was fading away, and it stared up at him, looking almost in pain. Riku didn't care if the boy was just some apparition. He still had Sora's face. 

"There's something… that's breaking… I can't let… see…" Sora never got the chance to finish. The rest of him faded away.

The silver haired boy took in a deep, steadying breath and placed a hand to his heart when he sensed the sickening darkness wrap around him. The Oblivion and Kingdom Keys materialized in his hands, and he turned, scanning the room with all of his senses. 

The library was empty save for himself and the books, but the presence was still there, still pulsating with amazing strength. Riku circled around, slowly pivoting with one foot and scanning the area with all of his senses. He could detect the presence, but all his other senses were saying otherwise. Stepping forward, Riku slowly approached one of the bookshelves and peered behind it, weapons raised. There was no one. Stalking along the sides of each bookshelf in the library, Riku still found nothing. 

Frowning, his gaze went up the stairs to the second floor. That was the only place he hadn't checked, and if memory served him right, there was another door leading into the library up there. Approaching the stairs, he went up one step at the time, pausing at each step to scan the room before going up to stopping on the next step.

On the last step, he stopped and peered into the second floor, from his position he couldn't see anyone, but he knew that there was a large possibility that there could be something hiding behind those bookshelves. Turning his head to scan the lower floor, he flinched as something black fluttered into his field of vision. He glanced up only to have his vision become obscured by the black object. It bounced off his forehead and slid down the bridge of his nose.

It was balancing precariously on the tip of his nose. With a violent shake of his head, the object fell and fluttered gently to the floor. Staring at it, he saw that it was a feather. It was an incredibly large feather, one that could on belong to the wing of an incredibly large bird.

There was more movement out of the corner of his eyes. Riku snapped his head around to see more black feathers showering down on him. His back, Riku realized, was turned to the second floor. His eyes widened as he felt the presence, stronger and pounding harder at him. It was directly behind him. Whirling, he came face to face with the sharp point of a silver blade. His eyes trailed down to the hilt of the weapon to see the hands, gloved in black, wrapped around it. Darting his eyes upwards, he saw the smirking face of a silvery haired man. 

Of course, it wasn't the silver hair, the maniacal gleam in his eyes, or the fact that he was wielding a sword longer than his body that gave Riku the hint that this man wasn't normal. It was the huge, black wing that he had on his back. 

Riku stepped back, clumsily descending onto the lower step. The other warrior made no move to stop him; he only raised an eyebrow, challenging him to make the first move. 

Holding up both keyblades, Riku swung his left keyblade, the Oblivion, in a wide arc, knocking his opponent's long blade aside. Running forward, Riku glanced up to see the warrior hold up his free hand. A blast of dark energy hit Riku in the chest, knocking him away. He flew backwards, smacking his head against a step.

Ignoring the pain, Riku glanced up to see the warrior leap beside him, feathers flying everywhere. He twisted his sword in his hand until the tip was facing downwards and pressed it against Riku's chest. 

"I'm disappointed… _Keyblade Master_." The warrior smiled, tightening his grip on the hilt.

_Don't scream. Don't scream. Don't scream._

Riku was silent as the sword was driven into his chest.

* * *

So I've been told that this was an evil ending to a chapter but uh… I felt like being evil. Hmmm ok well, really it was just to keep you guys in suspense for the next chapter which I'm gonna be posting reeeeal soon to make up for not posting in the past few weeks. I apologize (I REALLY AM SORRY!!!) for the lack of updates. Two weeks ago I was busy, this week was just a freak combination of being extremely busy and not to mention the lack of an Internet connection. Next week will most likely be busy too… actually the entire month and the next month will be busy. _Sigh_… well at least I have summer vacation to look forward too then it'd be daily updates… well not daily but pretty close!! Don't fret about the busy schedule! I WILL update as often as I can and I'll try to keep it once a week like I usually do.

Oh and to comment about this chapter? Hmmm I actually had some fun writing it, but the next one will be murder. Whoops… bad pun. Heh, but this is the start of a small little arc in the fic, one that I will enjoy writing. ^_^

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Victorious Light (Destiny): Thanks for reviewing, glad to know that you haven't forgotten about the fic. And I completely agree with you about characterization, I just CANNOT stand fics with characters that are OOC. Though I have some doubts about how I'm writing Riku.

Chibigenius: Ah, glad to see that you've updated, but really, no one's obligated to. ^_~ It's just fun to write up replies to the reviews left behind. I'm pretty honoured that you like Enigma--considering your little reputation with original characters and I _am_ worried that I might have turned Enigma into a Marty Sue, or Gary Stu… or whatever you call them male types. Enigma is really a fun character to write considering his different reactions to different characters and I'm glad that you've picked up on that. Also, you've gotta tell me some of your theories someday!

Justagirl: The next chapter's here!!! Please don't kill me! Heh, I have a feeling that you will after this one. _Goes to write her will._

Refugee: I don't think you should really concern yourself over reviewing a silly little fic when you've just been in an accident!! I didn't really get a chance to say this earlier and I'm betting this is a little too late but I hope you're doing fine. ^_^

Unknown: Thanks! Yes, I've really based a lot of stuff on Deep Dive… I just can't get stop watching it!

Dragonmaster Dyne: Yes, the KH writers really missed out on a lot of potential stuff… but ah well, what we have is good too. Let's hope that the sequel will be even better. Ooooh and I'm glad that you liked this chapter. Hmmm an epic, I dunno about that but I do have a few things planned. *G*

Cynthia Chen: LOL!!! I never had a chapter described as being juicy… or lovable. O_o

Koorino Megumi: AH!! You're so wonderful for beta reading for me, again! And I'm glad to know that I've put some character into Enigma… I wouldn't worry about your theories, they're not too far off… Also yes, I love being cruel with Riku and waving carrots in front of his face. *G*


	7. Searching for the Light

**Behind the Darkness**

**By: Naela**

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

Chapter Seven: Searching for the Light

The boy had grown limp by the time Sephiroth had pulled his sword out. A quick glance down was enough for the warrior to know that the boy was dead or at least close to death. The child's eyes were rolled to the back of his head, and his life force was beginning to drain out of his body. Smiling, Sephiroth slashed at the air with the Masamune, watching as flecks of blood flew off the sharp steel. 

Sheathing his weapon, Sephiroth turned away from the body and stared up at the ceiling, narrowing his eyes. He willed for a portal to open and saw the momentary flicker before an opening tore through the air, forming another exit within the library. Now that he was done with this little entertainment, he could get on with his real business. Sephiroth felt his wing tense, and his feet left the ground as he began ascending towards the portal. A hand snaked upward, snatching at his boots, and pulled him down. Sephiroth stumbled backwards, nearly tripping down the stairs. Regaining his balance, Sephiroth placed a hand on his sword, but his eyes were staring directly into the dull blue gaze of the Keyblade Master, Riku. 

Sephiroth wasn't surprised. In fact, he should have seen this coming. This wouldn't be the first time he'd fought an enemy who'd returned from the dead. He'd been warned about the boy's abilities. He shouldn't have taken him so lightly. 

Watching the boy, Sephiroth saw Riku tense for an attack. He drew his sword and side-stepped a clumsy lunge from the boy. He saw him trip over a step and fall, sprawled over the stairs. Instantly Sephiroth was behind Riku and grabbed a handful of the boy's hair, pulling him to his feet. Riku cried out and swung wildly with his keyblades. Unimpressed, Sephiroth shoved the boy forward and watched him tumble the rest of the way down the stairs, hitting the floor hard and leaving a trail of blood behind on the dark carpeting of the steps. The boy didn't move from his position, and Sephiroth leapt into the air. He drew his sword and slashed at the boy's neck the instant his feet touched the ground--only to have his blade be driven into the library floor. The boy had rolled away and was back on his feet, both keyblades at the ready. Sephiroth felt his lips twist into a menacing grin and gave the boy a nod of approval. He grinned wider at the scowl Riku returned.

Straightening, he pulled his sword free and took one step back with his left leg. His right shoulder was facing the boy, and his sword was aligned with the child's chest. This time, he'd rip the boy's heart out if need be. He rushed forward and saw the boy staring in shock before reacting and jumping away. Sephiroth's sword slashed across the other's chest in a diagonal cut. 

The Keyblade Master grunted and spun around, trapping the Masamune in between the arc and hilt of the black keyblade. Sephiroth twisted his sword, trying to free his weapon. The boy began running at him, his other keyblade poised for attack while his black keyblade kept the Masamune in place.

Sephiroth flew into the air and felt the keyblade hit its mark. His leather outfit was cut, and underneath the severed material was a red gash. With his freehand he touched the bloody skin. It'd been a while since anyone had been able to cut him and he knew that this wound would leave a scar. He felt a guttural growl escape his throat. Placing both hands on the Masamune, Sephiroth lifted the sword and pulled the boy up with his keyblade. Kicking, the boy jerked, trying to yank the sword out of the one-winged angel's grip. Sephiroth couldn't help but smile at the boy's persistence. 

Sephiroth shook the sword hard, waving it back and forth trying to loosen the boy's grip. The Keyblade Master crashed against a bookshelf and let out a groan as he lost his grasp on his keyblade. He fell to the ground in a crouching position and tossed the Kingdom Key from his left hand to his right.

"Come on, you can do better than that," Sephiroth goaded. He grinned when he saw the boy's eyes narrow.

Placing both hands on the Masamune, he held it level with his chest and rushed forward, leaving a trail of black feathers in his wake. The boy's eyes widened at his fast attack, and at the last moment the boy managed to roll aside and jump onto his feet. The one-winged angel stopped short of crashing into a bookshelf and spun around, bringing up his sword to block a swing from Riku. The boy was not deterred and shoved his sword back, giving Riku enough momentum and time to spin around for another attack. Sephiroth blocked the blow, and their weapons locked, trembling under the pressure of two powerful forces coming against one another. 

Flapping his wing, Sephiroth flew upwards. The boy stumbled forward, growling audibly. Jumping on top of a bookshelf, Sephiroth held the Masamune by his side and held out his hand, beckoning for the boy to attack. 

The boy glowered at him and then glanced from side to side. Catching sight of the Oblivion, he ran for it. Sephiroth smirked and watched him dive for the weapon with his left hand. With both hands armed, he faced Sephiroth and brought the keyblades together, crossing them. Energy crackled and travelled up his arms, but the boy didn't flinch at the power pouring through the keyblades and into him. He ran forward, his feet barely touching the ground as he climbed up the side the bookshelf, the force of his ascent tipping the bookshelf forward. 

Sephiroth leapt onto an adjacent bookcase as the other bookshelf crashed to the ground, sending books and dust flying. The boy balanced on the shelves of the fallen bookcase and held up both keyblades, throwing them forward. They flew straight towards. The swordsman brought up the Masamune, knocking both keyblades aside but was unprepared for the third attack. Riku rushed at him and plunged a red sword into his gut. He groaned through gritted teeth and pulled back the Masamune, bringing the sword into the boy's shoulder. The boy cried out, but his grip on the red sword refused to loosen.

Taking one hand off the hilt of the Masamune, Sephiroth grabbed onto the blade that was in his gut and took one shaky step back. He heard the sickening sound of blood and other body parts being jarred as half an inch of the red sword was pulled out. He ground his teeth and took another step and another. The boy was wincing as the Masamune was slowly being pulled out of his shoulder. No longer being able to take the pain, Riku jumped backwards, off the bookshelf and onto the ground. Sephiroth went into a crouching position, his hand over his gut. Pulling his hand away, he saw the blood that covered his glove. 

"Riku!" 

Both fighters faced the door and saw the trio that had run in. A man with brown hair and muscular build rushed forward, both hands holding the hilt of a sword. His appearance had changed, but Sephiroth recognized him: Squall. From his memories, he knew that Leonhart was no pushover like the boy. 

Stepping up beside Leon, holding a sword nearly as big as his body, was Cloud. He hadn't changed since the last time Sephiroth had seen him. The one-winged angel sneered at the sight of the man. He ignored the pain in his gut and stood.

"Sephiroth," Cloud growled. He brought his sword down, slicing the ground. "Leave the boy alone and face _me_."

"As much as I'd like to, Cloud, I have better things to do with my time," Sephiroth said, giving the blonde warrior a smirk.

Cloud scowled at the man and stepped forward, ready to charge when a hand held him back. He glanced up to meet the warning gaze of Leon, who shook his head. Turning to face Sephiroth, Leon pointed his gunblade at him. "What are you doing here, Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth sheathed the Masamune and wiped his blood-covered hand on his coat. "You have no reason to know anything, Leonhart."

The silver haired man's eyes fell on the third party member and nearly laughed at the sight of her. "_Rinoa!_ Leonhart, I thought you'd be smarter than to bring the woman you love into the middle of danger after that little debacle with Aerith." 

Energy crackled around Cloud at the mention of Aerith. "You have no right to say her name!" he shouted.

"Calm down, Cloud," Leon commanded, though he had taken a step closer to Rinoa. 

"Riku? How are you?" Rinoa called out. 

The boy scrambled to his feet, one hand on his shoulder while the other held onto his bat wing sword. "I'm fine, Rinoa," he replied, keeping his eyes on Sephiroth as he slowly made his way to the others. The man made no attempt to stop him.

"It was an entertaining duel, Keyblade Master, but I've wasted enough time here," Sephiroth said. A glowing portal opened behind him. "I have other matters to attend to." He jumped backwards, and the portal closed before anyone could take a step forward to stop him.

"Is he gone?" Leon asked, glancing towards Rinoa and then to Cloud. The blonde warrior had his eyes closed, and he shook his head.

"No," Cloud replied, opening his eyes. "He's still here. He's moving towards…" He stopped and suddenly cursed. Turning on his heel, he kicked the library doors open and rushed out of the room. 

Leon glanced towards Rinoa then towards Riku, and then met her gaze again. The girl nodded at him. "Go," she told him. "I can take care of Riku… and I can handle Sephiroth if he comes back."

"Thank you," he said softly, leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead before turning and following Cloud.

Rinoa approached the boy and saw him surveying the damage of the library. The boy shook his head. "I'm sorry about the library."

"Don't worry about that. No one ever uses the library except for Aerith," Rinoa said, waving dismissively at the books. "And I'm pretty certain she'd be more concerned over your well being than a couple of books."

"I should have been smarter than to face off against him alone," Riku murmured. He leaned against the wall for support. "I could sense that he was powerful."

Rinoa smiled at him. "Well powerful or not, I'm impressed. The fact that you were able to go up against Sephiroth _and_ hurt him proves that you're a great warrior. The only two people who I know that could do that are Squall and Cloud."

Riku winced as he brought a hand up to his chest. "I don't think hurting him was worth it."

Stepping up to him, Rinoa held a hand over his chest. She frowned as she studied the wound. "This goes straight through your heart."

"Yeah… I know," Riku replied. His eyes drifted across the library, refusing to meet hers. "I felt it when Sephiroth's sword went through my heart. It stopped for a few minutes, actually. Then I just woke up, and it was working again."

Stepping back, she stared into his eyes and smiled softly. "You're not a normal boy, are you, Riku?" she asked.

The boy shook his head. "I guess not… that's what I've been told."

Holding a hand over the wound, Rinoa's hand started glowing green. The soft light spread from her hand to Riku's chest. The boy closed his eyes and felt the familiar presence of a healing spell entering his body. His wounds began to slowly close while all weariness and fatigue seem to wash away. 

The glow faded, and he opened his eyes. He saw Rinoa glancing towards the door with a frown. Looking towards the door and then back to Rinoa, Riku held out a hand, catching her attention. "What is it?"

"It's Sephiroth," Rinoa replied. "He's surfaced again, and Cloud and Squall are near him…"

Riku pushed himself off the wall and began heading for the door. "Where are you going?" Rinoa called after him.

Riku paused at the door. "I'm going to help," he replied.

Rinoa frowned and shook her head. "You'll never make it in time," she replied. She held up her hands, and his two keyblades rushed into them. She glanced down at both and tossed them at him. Riku caught them smoothly and willed them away. She ran up to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him into a wall and then through the wall.

"This way is quicker," she told him as she pulled him through another wall. 

Riku frowned and glanced behind him, touching the wall they'd just walked through. It was solid. "You're not quite normal either," he noted.

Rinoa laughed as she led him through another wall. "That, Riku, is something I've always known."

***

Every resident of Hollow Bastion had their own individual room to live and claim as their own. They were allowed to decorate it in any matter that they wanted and do what they wanted with it. Most residents liked using their rooms as their sleeping quarters. Some, such as Cloud, had transformed theirs into a sparring room. Cloud instead used Aerith's quarters to sleep in. They usually slept side by side, holding each other. It was in this room that Cloud let himself become vulnerable. Aerith was the only person he allowed to see the side that he considered weak. 

Half of the room had been decorated to his tastes, which wasn't much, a few swords on the wall here and some cloaks hanging off chairs there. It was really up to Aerith to bring some taste into the place. She held a hand over her stomach as she sat in front of the mirror, combing her hair. Cloud had told her before that he didn't care for her appearance, that he loved her for the way she was, but she did like making herself appear presentable for him. With people like Tifa in his past, she really did feel a tinge of jealousy that she wasn't quite as pretty as them.

She felt the baby kick and laughed softly as she put the comb down and placed both hands on her abdomen. She had a feeling that the child would be as energetic as Cloud. She heard the door creak open and gestured towards the door with one hand.

"Cloud, come here and feel this! The baby's kicking." 

A gloved hand reached forward and rested itself against her abdomen. She felt a chill run down her spine as the hand smeared blood across her dress. She glanced up and jerked away as she met Sephiroth's gaze. Nearly falling out of her chair, she tried to back away.

"Sephiroth!" she gasped. The man gripped her shoulder with both hands and pressed his lips against hers. She struggled, pounding on his chest and trying to push him away. Bringing a leg up, she kneed him in the gut and heard him groan into her mouth before shoving her away and clutching onto his stomach. Aerith stared at him in confusion, then glanced down at her blood stained knee.

She took the opportunity and fled to the other side of the room, grabbing the Princess Guard off its rack, and began to slowly edge towards the door. Sephiroth's face snapped around in her direction, and his gaze seemed to hold her still. Getting up to his feet, the man began approaching her.

"_Stay away from me!_" Aerith exclaimed, holding up the Princess Guard. 

"For what reason?" Sephiroth asked. He stopped inches away from her and laughed. "In your condition, you can't fight… or use magic." His hand reached forward, about to touch her abdomen when Aerith brought the Princess Guard on his hand, smacking it away.

"I can fight, Sephiroth," Aerith warned. "And I'll continue fighting rather than let you touch my baby."

"Your baby…" Sephiroth's eyes stared at her bulging belly. "Yours and Cloud's… "

He turned away, his hand reaching for the Masamune. "You've been tainted by that scum… you can't be the Princess of Light."

"What?" Aerith questioned.

Sephiroth pulled the Masamune out of its sheath and pointed at her belly. "But I can make you pure again."

Aerith trembled underneath the Masamune. Dropping the Princess Guard, she held both hands over her belly and shook her head. "Don't do this… Sephiroth, you weren't like this before."

"I never had my heart ripped out of my chest before either," Sephiroth retorted, his eyes gleaming with glee.

The door flung open, and Cloud rushed forward, the Buster Sword knocking aside Sephiroth's weapon. He stepped in front of Aerith and glared at the silver haired man.

"Aerith," he said, never turning his back on Sephiroth. "Get out of here."

"Cloud…" Aerith said softly. She knew better than to argue and nodded before running out of the room. 

"You have a lot of nerve," Cloud growled. "Is this the reason why you came back? To win her back?"

"There _is_ no winning, idiot," Sephiroth snapped. "She loves you… that dog loves YOU!"

"Don't call her that!" Cloud glared at him.

"Ripping out my heart… running to you, isn't that what you call a woman who does that?" Sephiroth asked, flicking the Masamune from side to side.

Lowering his sword, Cloud relaxed from his stance and shook his head. "Get out of here," he said, meeting Sephiroth's gaze. "Just leave."

The silver haired warrior stepped back, the maniacal smile still on his face as he gave Cloud a salute with one hand. A portal opened below him, swallowing him. Cloud frowned, realizing that Sephiroth had given up too easily. His thoughts went to Aerith, and his eyes widened. 

"Sephiroth!" he exclaimed, running up to the portal in time to see it close. He growled and shot out of the door. There was the Aerith, just down the hall, standing in front of the floor to ceiling window. She was standing so that he could see her profile, the bulging of her abdomen standing out. She turned away, noticed him and waved.

"Aerith!" he shouted and began running towards her.

"Cloud?" she called back, confused. "What's wrong?"

He stopped halfway down the hall when he saw the portal opening above her head. His heart stopped for a split second before he regained his senses and bolted down towards Aerith. She stood frozen, watching him in confusion, oblivious to the danger over her head.

"Goodbye, little princess," Sephiroth whispered as he dropped from the ceiling, sword poised over her. 

With his booted feet pounding hard against the ground, Cloud kicked himself into the air with one foot, his hands reaching for Aerith. Grabbing onto her shoulders, he shoved her aside and felt the sword slide smoothly through his back, through arteries and the wall of his heart, then through his chest. He gasped, taking in a sharp breath and heard Aerith scream. His worried eyes searched for her and found her on the other side of the hall, trembling with her eyes wide as she reached for him with one hand.

_At least I was able to protect her this time._

Cloud groaned as he felt the sword slide out of his chest. He glanced up to see Sephiroth, no longer smiling, no longer gleeful. A portal opened behind him, and he backed away into it, disappearing from sight as it closed. Aerith was immediately by Cloud's side, holding onto his hand and cradling his body. He glanced up at her, his sight blurring. He forced his eyes to focus and saw the tears in her eyes. Slowly the world faded into darkness.

"No…" Aerith choked out as she felt his hand go limp. "NO! Cloud… this… this can't be real!" 

She heard footsteps approach and didn't bother to glance up. She couldn't take her eyes off Cloud. She buried her face into his shoulder, sobbing.

"Aerith…" Rinoa approached her side, her hand held over her mouth. She glanced over to see Riku clenching his fists.

"Cloud's gone," Aerith whispered into the fallen warrior's shoulder. "Cloud will no longer talk, no longer _laugh_, cry… or get angry…" Her hand went to her abdomen. "What about us? What are _we_ supposed to do?"

"Please, Aerith," Rinoa kneeled beside her, trying to pull her away from Cloud. The woman in pink sat up, still clutching Cloud's hand fiercely.

"What about my pain!?" Aerith asked. "My fingers are tingling, my mouth is dry… my eyes are burning!"

Rinoa stood up, noticing Riku turning on his heel and marching away. She glanced hesitantly towards her companion and then ran towards the boy. "Riku!" He paused, allowing her to catch up. "Riku, don't blame yourself," she said, stepping in front of him.

"I should have done something more," Riku snapped, his eyes hard, refusing to allow any emotion to slip through. Rinoa shook her head. Reaching a hand out, she tried to place it on his shoulder. Riku moved away, shaking his head fiercely.

"There's nothing you could have done," Rinoa tried to soothe him. "You did your best!"

Riku glanced over his shoulder towards Aerith, who was still leaning over the body. "I still _can_ do something."

"There's nothing you can do about death!" Rinoa exclaimed.

Shoving past her, Riku walked away. "That's what you believe," he muttered, hand held over his heart.

* * *

_ ::Sneaks onto the stage hiding behind her shield::_

Ah heh… PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!! Sephiroth made me do it! He wanted to get Aerith so badly, but Cloud wouldn't have it! _::sniffles::_ Okay so I've become extremely cruel to my characters… but here's part two of Riku's little story arc. Now what's he going to do? Ah hell I think I made the solution a little too obvious. 

Oh and if it ain't too obvious now… No, the Cloud and Aerith and the rest of the FF7 crew from this game are NOT actually from the FF7 world. They are like they were in Kingdom Hearts, the same basically goes for the rest of the Final Fantasy characters. Still, I won't mess with certain untouchable pairings (Tidus/Yuna, Cloud/Aerith, Squall/Rinoa) 

BTW: Anyone seen Matrix Reloaded???? OMG I LOVED IT!

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Koorino Megumi: Such a darling for beta reading my fics and also for helping me with a certain scene in the fic. Go kiss her feet people!! Oh and I'm certainly not the first person to put Rinoa into a KH fic… hopefully when KH2 comes out Rinoa will be in it!! I absolutely adore Squinoa!! ^_^

Cynthia Chen: Yeah, I get the lack of internet connection, it was horrible!! And as you've most likely read about… Riku's fine!! *G*

Chibigenius: HEY!! Enigma doesn't like to be glomped! Yes, writing about illusiony Sora was fun, the little tyke!


	8. Wandering

**Behind the Darkness**

**By: Naela**

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

Chapter Eight: Wandering

Even though it'd been five years since he'd last been to Hollow Bastion, he could still remember his way to the Castle Chapel. He journeyed to the top of the fortress, ignoring the gazes that people sent him, the questions that they asked. He didn't spare a glance towards the breathtakingscenery outside nor slow down when a pair of guards held up their hands, ordering him to stop. They chased after him, and Riku easily took care of them with a few punches and kicks. 

He arrived at the Castle Chapel's entrance, hesitating as he remembered the battles that had taken place in the rooms beyond. Shaking his head, he steeled himself and entered the grotesquely coloured room going up another flight of steps. He stopped as he reached the end.

"Kairi!"

Riku turned and started at the sight of Sora running towards him, running _through_ him. Sora was quickly followed by his other two friends, though Goofy soon ran into a barrier and fell backwards. Riku turned away from the two to see his best friend running up to the still form of Kairi.

"Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!"

Riku sighed at the sight of himself, younger, but so full of confidence, approaching his friends. "It's no use…" His younger self said. The apparitions faded away,and Riku shook his head, running a hand over his face.

Turning to face the keyhole that Sora had sealed long ago, he brought out his Kingdom Key and bit down on his lip. He'd seen King Mickey use it once before, but that was to close a door. Enigma had used his keyblade to open rifts, but that wasn't quite the same. Riku held up the keyblade as he'd seen both Enigma and Mickey do before and paused, trying to figure out what to do next. 

"Try and picture the keyhole being unlocked."

Riku nearly jumped as Sora stepped up beside him, holding a wooden sword and mimicking Riku's pose. He held his sword up and then pointed it towards the keyhole.

"Picturing it…" Riku murmured. He brought down the keyblade and stared at it, then turned to face Sora. The boy had vanished. Shaking his head, Riku closed his eyes and faced the keyhole. He brought the keyblade up and pictured what he'd seen Enigma do. Energy surged forth from his hand and into his keyblade. Riku glanced up at it and felt a triumphant grin on his face. He pointed the keyblade towards the door and saw the beam of energy shoot forward. He heard an audible click, slowly by some unseen force it began to open.

Behind the door, all he saw was darkness. Willing the Oblivion to take shape in his free hand, Riku stepped forward into the dark. The world shifted, taking shape and bending like a pebble breaking the surface of a pond. It stilled, and Riku blinked. Before him was the stretching hallway of the World In Between. 

The door to Hollow Bastion slammed shut, and Riku ignored it. His mind was focused on finding a way to his destination. He could explore every door in this world, but he figured that it would take more than his lifetime and the next before he would be able to find the right place.

Lowering the keyblades, he took a hesitant step towards the door he'd just exited from. Returning to Hollow Bastion seemed more and more tempting now that he'd stopped to think about it. It was only the image of one resident of that world that kept him from returning. Aerith crying over the body of Cloud entered his mind, and he shook his head. He would return Cloud to the living, if only just for her. Her grief seemed too out of place for a woman like her. She deserved to be smiling, to be happy. 

_You're a real genius, Riku,_ the boy berated himself. He could have at least stopped along the way to get something to eat. Fighting hordes of Heartless, falling into different worlds and duelling with swordsmen beyond his league certainly took a lot out of him, and now he was going to get himself into more trouble on an empty stomach. 

A normal man probably would have collapsed by now, but as Enigma had told him before, Riku wasn't normal. He was beyond being human. Riku's thoughts went to the hooded men. Bringing up an arm, he examined the leather material of the jacket he wore. He was dressed like them, but how he got like this was still a mystery to him. 

_One moment I'm in Kingdom Hearts,and the next… I'm in that strange city and I meet Enigma._

If he ever crossed paths with Enigma again, he'd get answers. He knew that the other warrior was hiding a lot of secrets from him that he should have been informed of. 

Walking down the corridor, he glanced at the emblem on each door. The world he was looking for had a specific one with a skull engulfed in an inferno. He knew this from all those times he had cted as Maleficent's little errand boy and had had to do her bidding in other worlds. His lips twisted into a sardonic smirk. He found it amusing how his time spent with her was suddenly becoming handy.

He turned a corner, stumbling over some large metallic object on the ground. He stepped back, examining the mess. Scattered on the ground were pieces of metal. Pieces of armour, he realized, and brought his keyblades up as he spotted the seal of the Heartless stamped onto one of the larger pieces. The armour rattled,and Riku took another step back as the pieces flew into the air. The torso piece hovered, remaining still as the small pieces gathered around it. The arms and legs flew into place, and finally, as if appearing out of nowhere, the helmet landed where the neck should have been. The visor flew up, revealing the glowing eyes of a Heartless. The head swivelled from side to side and its arms flung about before finally it stilled and the Heartless settled its gaze on Riku.

The boy brought up both keyblades, and the Heartless charged, its footsteps shaking the corridor. Riku leapt from the ground and twisted his body in the narrow corridor so that his feet were now touching the wall. He stayed like that, suspended sideways, and then kicked himself off the wall and flew over the head of the Heartless. It stopped its charge, glancing from side to side, confused about the sudden disappearance of its quarry. Riku rolled his eyes, wondering why Ansem hadn't made his minions just a little smarter.

He brought the Kingdom Key up and slammed it down, slicing through the metal. He winced at the crunching of the armour as the keyblade left a large gash on the Heartless' back. It let out a high-pitched wail, jumping and smacking its head against the ceiling before landing again. The ground shook, forcing Riku to step back. The Heartless spun around, its arms whirling like a sharp edged fan before it stopped, facing him. Riku ran forward, his hand with the Oblivion raised, and jumped, bringing the black keyblade down on the helmet, knocking it off the Heartless' body. The helmet went flying down the corridor.

The rest of the Heartless became limp. Then it fell apart, the pieces clattering on the ground and disappearing in a puff of smoke. Riku watched it vanish before directing his gaze down the corridor. There was still no sign of the Unknown. He wondered what that meant. Enigma had said that they were sensitive to any foreign presences within the World in Between. 

Continuing his trek, Riku searched for the specific emblem, but he saw no sign of it. He let out a frustrated sigh and stopped, feeling his feet beginning to ache. He held up a keyblade, glancing over his shoulder as he heard whispering. It was quiet and barely audible, but in the near silence of the World in Between, he could hear it clearly. 

"Who's there?" he demanded. 

Of course, as he'd expected, there was no answer. He wondered if it was the Unknown, but did they even talk? He couldn't recall ever hearing them say anything, save from Enigma, who was an exception. Then again, he'd never made much contact with them, not that he wanted to anyway considering how last time he had run into them they'd tried to kill him.

He resumed walking after he felt that he'd rested enough. His arms were starting to ache from having to constantly carry the keyblades and be at ready for any sort of surprise attack. He considered making the weapons disappear, but decided against it. In a battle, every little second counted, and to waste a precious few just to conjure his weapons seemed too much like a tactical error to him. Riku rounded a corner and stopped, hearing the voices again. This time it was louder, but still indiscernible. He turned around, seeing nothing, and the voices began fading. 

"Okay… I _have_ gone crazy," Riku muttered. It still surprised him how he could maintain a façade of sanity considering all of these surprise visits from talking illusions and whispering voices.

Ahead, he saw a figure jumping and waving at him. Riku smirked. "Speak of the devil," he muttered as he began jogging towards the illusionary Sora.

The boy didn't wait for him, but began running. Riku chased after him, wondering what his mind was trying to tell him. He turned around a corner, running straight into a legion of Shadows. He tensed, his smile disappearing, and his grip on his keyblades tightened. The Shadows all turned to face him, staring at him with their large yellow eyes. Riku saw them blink in unison at him, bobbing up in down in their places. He turned, hearing the shuffling of footsteps, and saw another legion of Heartless down the corridor he'd just come from. It was a black carpet of monsters stretching from one end of the corridor to the other, all staring at him, and here he was, trapped in a corner.

A high-pitched squeal nearly made Riku bring his hands up to his ears. He winced as the squealing spread from one Heartless to the next until the entire room was exploding in a cacophony of shattering noise that made Riku drop his keyblades and press himself against the walls. The noise rose to an even higher pitch, and the boy slid to the ground, his knees touching his chest as he brought his hands up to cover his ears.

"Stop it…" His voice was lost in the screeching, and he raised his gaze to glare at the shadows. "Stop it! STOP IT! **_STOP IT!!!_**"

And they stopped.

Riku blinked and found the Heartless all staring at him.Scrambling onto his hands and knees, he reached for his keyblades and shot up. A burst of light from down the corridor caught Riku's attention. He whirled around, his heart racing as he spotted the hooded Unknown swipe at one of the shadows with its glowing blue hands, knocking it aside. The rest of the shadows surged forward like a black tidal wave. They surrounded the Unknown. 

The Unknown fought as hard as it could, but one against a crowd of millions had no chance. A blazing portal opened behind it, and the hooded warrior jumped backwards, leaving the area. The Heartless, once a sea of fury, calmed and faced Riku again. 

The boy realized that they were staring at him because they were expecting something, expecting orders, expecting orders from _him_. It came to him, and suddenly everything became clear. He glowered atthe creatures.

"I'm not him!" he snapped. The shadows only blinked in response. "Can't you see? I'm _not_ Ansem!"

One of the Heartless went to its knees, lowering its head until its forehead touched the floor. The one beside it followed suit, as did the one next to it, and suddenly all of the Heartless were beginning to prostrate themselves.

"Why did you lead me here?" Riku apostrophized to the illusion, staring up at the ceiling.

He supposed having a sea of Shadows protecting him from the Unknown wouldn't be too bad, but the fact that they were following him because he reminded them of their former master didn't settle too well with Riku. It was too much of bad reminder of how he'd stupidly let Ansem take control of his body. 

Stepping up to one of the Heartless, he stared at it. "Move," he commanded. It moved, as did the rest of the Heartless behind it, opening a new path. He stepped forward onto the path and walked away. He glanced momentarily behind him to see that the path was closing and the Heartless were beginning to follow him. Once he had cleared the path, he took off in a run, turning around one corner and running around the next. The Heartless squealed in unison and chased after him. Riku sighed and slowed, coming to a stop. The Heartless stopped as well, and he turned to face them. 

The sight of so many creatures all gathered together to follow his commands was just too disturbing. His fight or flight reflex threatened to take control every time one of the shadows stepped too close to him or made any sort of sudden movements. Luckily for these creatures, they seemed wise enough to just stay where they were. 

Riku bit down on his lip as he considered what to do with them. Finally he pointed at a Heartless to his right. "You," he said. It brought its head up, staring at him blankly. "I want you to lead me to where I want to go."

It squeaked and bobbed its head. Riku stared at it with narrowed eyes. "You _do_ know where I want to go, right?"

The creature gave an affirmative squeak and began running forward, leading him down the corridor. Riku watched it run, and it stopped at the edge of the corridor, staring at him, waiting. Riku sighed and walked towards it, the rest of the Heartless following.

***

The corridor had been left as it was when Riku had last been in it. The scorch marks were still there, though the presence of the Unknown was gone. Enigma placed a hand against the door both he and Kairi had stepped through and took Kairi's hand with his free one. She stared at him in surprise.

"It's to shield your presence," Enigma explained. "There are a lot of… beings here, much like me, who destroy any who enter this world."

"Oh…" Kairi seemed a bit disappointed.

Glancing down the corridor, he saw it empty and wondered how long it'd take before the Unknown would come back to repair the damages that'd been done. Stepping away from the door, he pulled Kairi along. He felt her jump as the door slammed shut. 

After calming herself, the girl glanced up at him. "Where should we start first?"

"There," Enigma answered, pointing at the door directly opposite from them. "This was where I'd made my mistake and ended up on Destiny Islands. I'd tracked Riku this far and surmised that he could have taken the door we just came through or that door."

Kairi stared at the unfamiliar emblem on the door and stepped forward, tugging Enigma along with her. She crouched, tracing her finger along the glowing carving. "Where would we go?"

Enigma shrugged. "I don't have a clue," he replied. 

Grinning at him, Kairi reached forward, opening the door. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

She was ready to dash forward when Enigma's grip on her hand tightened. "Wait," he told her. She stopped at the doorframe.

"What?"

"It's going to be a very long drop," Enigma told her. He gestured at the door behind them. "Remember how you found me? When you saw me dropping from the sky?"

Kairi nodded, her eyes squinting as the memory replayed in her mind. "Yeah… you were dropping pretty fast…"

Enigma nodded. "Yes well, if it weren't for the fact that there was an ocean to stop my fall, then I'd probably have crashed and broken quite a few bones." He paused, recalling the person they were looking for. "Which makes me worry about Riku's condition… but still, I don't think even if I used an aeroga spell that you would be able to handle the speed and the fall."

Pursing her lips, Kairi raised an eyebrow at him. "Then what do we do now?"

"This," Enigma replied, holding out a hand. The Kingdom Key formed in it. Bringing the key up, it flashed with energy, and Enigma swiped the air. There was a sound of a fragile object being torn apart, and Kairi jumped back at the tear that'd just appeared. She reached forward, placing her hand into it and watching her fingers up to her wrist disappear inside it.

"Whoa…" she murmured as she pulled her hand out.

Enigma smiled at her and threw the Kingdom Key into the air, watching it disappear before turning to face her. "Yeah, I guess it looks amazing," he admitted. "I had the same reaction when I first saw it."

"What is it?" Kairi asked.

"A rift," Enigma said. "I just ripped a tear into the barriers of this world and created a short cut into the next world. A crude form of travelling, but it still works."

Holding a hand towards the tear, Kairi stared up at him. "Shall we go?" she asked, mocking his formal tone. Enigma smirked and nodded.

"Indeed we shall," he replied, grabbing Kairi by the shoulders and shoving her forward. She yelped, her grip on his hand tightening as she dragged him forward. 

They passed through momentary darkness before the world became bright again. Both Kairi and Enigma glanced around them, seeing the floating rock platforms and the clear surface beneath them. Kairi tapped her foot on the "ground" and jumped back. She looked a bit disappointed when she didn't fall through the surface.

"Enchanted water?" she asked.

Enigma slid one foot against the ground. "Worlds work in strange ways."

There were waterfalls all around them. Kairi enjoyed the serenity of the place and smiled as she clasped her hands together. "I wonder where we are."

"I guess if we move to higher ground, we'll find out," Enigma suggested, pointing towards one of the rock platforms.

Kairi stared up and frowned. "How in the world are we going to get up ther--" She screamed as she felt Enigma wrap his arms around her, scooping her into his arms. Bending his knees, he jumped, shooting from the ground and into the air. Kairi screamed even louder as they went higher and higher, the air suddenly becoming much cooler, and she thought she could almost reach out and touch the clouds. 

A bird soared past them, and Kairi stopped her screaming to watch it with interest, and…

…they fell.

They went down faster than they'd climbed up, and Kairi held onto Enigma as if it were the end of the world, which it would be for her if they didn't slow down sometime soon. She squeezed her eyes shut, letting out a loud yelp.

Kairi felt herself being bounced into the air and glanced down, seeing Enigma slow, floating a few feet above the ground before he slowly descended. Around them a shield of dust whirled, forming a protective bubble. She realized that Enigma had cast an aeroga spell right at the last minute. He bent over, letting her steady herself on her own two feet. She placed a hand on her forehead, waiting for the dizziness to pass before whirling about and smacking a hand on Enigma's chest. 

He blinked at her. "_Ow_." He rubbed a hand against the spot she'd hit. "What was _that_ for?"

"I nearly died up there!" she exclaimed. "How about next time you do something like that you give me some warning?"

Smirking at her, Enigma held up his hands in mock surrender. "My apologies, _Princess_."

Folding her arms over her chest, Kairi shook her head and raised an eyebrow. "Very well, Engima, I forgive you." She stuck out her tongue at him.

Enigma snorted and came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She tensed slightly, and Enigma leaned forward, his mouth near her ear. She closed her eyes, smiling at the closeness. It was like being with Sora again, back in Hollow Bastion, when they'd hugged for the first time.

"I'm here," Engima said softly. His hold around her waist tightened. "Trust me."

_Sora…_ Kairi placed her hands over his. "I trust you."

With that, Enigma launched the two up again. 

* * *

  
  
Awww... that's so sweet, a little bit of romance for ya guys. Of course things are just gonna start going downhill for Kairi when and if Sora shows up. Heh, I guess Me-chan's influence is getting to me. _::shakes fist at her beta reader::_ Seriously though I hope you guys are reading her fic, Reverse Side of Darkness. A REALLY good fic.   
  
Notes on the chapter itself? Well it's shorter than what I usually come up with, but I guess because this really is a bit of a filler before we get into the good stuff. Oh, and I suppose I should address the issue about the Final Fantasy characters... 

I don't think I explained it very well in the previous chapter, obviously because the last A/N was written at 2 am in the morning and tagged on at the last minute, just as this one is going under the same process... but unlike last time I'm gonna be a little more careful. Anyway, the Final Fantasy characters here are obviously different from the FF characters that we're used to in the FF series... one big factor... Aerith's not dead! Whoops... I suppose I spoiled the biggest yet well known spoiler of FFVII for ya guys. Anyway, Aerith, Cloud, Squall, Rinoa et all have a different background and history... just as they did in Kingdom Hearts. The thing I've noticed in most KH stories is that most people like to believe that they ARE the same characters... and maybe they are, who knows, but for the sake of a plot bunny... that's not the case here. 

Now on with the usual stuff such as... 

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 

Chibigenius: Sorry about the little assumption, I guess if you really are confused about something FF-ish, you could always just email me about it, but ah well. And I'm sorta disappointed, I expected flames. And sheesh... you pick up on everything. Yes, I didn't like how Cloud and Aerith's room was described too but left the paragraph there for the sake of having a crappy intro. 

Koorino Megumi: Oooh yay! I made a cinematic battle. ^_^ Aerith's pregnancy... well I always thought she'd make a good mommy and Cloud would have been such a cute dad... too... _::sobs... then glares at Sephiroth::_

Victorious Light: I didn't think this was really a big cliff hanger... but I suppose with how I left things off, yeah... heh... my apologies, but at least it has you on the edge of your seat. 

Zelphie: Er... well in the past week I've noticed you going to almost EVERY fic in the KH fandom and making the same request. Chances are that you're probably not even going to be reading this, but I'm not really impressed at how you're advertising someone else's fic in my review section. I'm really not impressed at how you've been spamming like this. _::shakes head_

Refugee: Cloud, Sephiroth and Aerith's story will be explained ten chapters from now with the way things are going, O_O but this IS a KH fic after all, so Riku and Kairi and the others really take priority of the FF characters, but coming up with the little plot for the said trio makes this fic all the more enjoyable to write. 

Water Goddess: LOL!! Well I'm glad Cloud's sacrifice made somewhat of an impact on someone. *GRINS* 

Cynthia Chen: Ah! Sorry!! LOL!! Sephiroth was just begging me to kill off Aerith, but Cloud... well you read the chapter. Lemme tell ya one thing though, no one else is impressed with Sephy's actions either and whether or not he'll be paying for it... well... we'll see. Heh. 


	9. Deeper

**Behind the Darkness**

**By: Naela**

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

Chapter Nine: Deeper

Out of all the doors Riku had seen in the World in Between, he'd never come across one that was chained like the one before him. The bindings were truly a sign that the world behind it was forbidden. Its emblem, a skull engulfed in an inferno, was a foreshadowing to the hell he would enter--because it _was_ hell. It was the underworld, Hades' domain. He'd be stepping into the world of the dead.

The Heartless that'd been his guide squeaked, catching his attention. Riku waved at it, gesturing for it to leave. The Shadow didn't get the message, and Riku let out a frustrated sigh. He brought his eyes to the darkened sky and waited. When he glanced down, he saw the Heartless was still there, as was the legion that had been following him.

"Go away," he said, shaking his keyblade at it. "Leave!"

It didn't respond. The creature's lack of reaction told Riku that it didn't quite grasp the meaning of his words. Their selective understanding was beginning to bother the boy. He slashed at the Heartless and watched it skitter away, joining its companions. They all backed a few meters away but made no further movement to leave.

"Get out of my sight!" he snarled. He watched with minute satisfaction as the Heartless screeched and scurried away, some melting into shadows and disappearing in the darkness while others ran away on foot. 

He waited until they were all gone and turned to face the door. Bringing up one hand, he made the Oblivion disappear, and he hesitantly reached out a hand to touch one of the chains. A bolt of energy leapt towards his outstretched limb, lancing across the tips of fingers. Riku involuntarily winced. Pulling back his hand, he brought it to his face, examining it. He was thankful that he'd made it a habit to wear gloves every time he stepped out of a building. Not only did they give him a better grip on his weapons, but they had protected his fingers from harm.

Hades certainly didn't want any unwelcome visitors going into his world. Bringing the Oblivion back out of nothingness, Riku brought both keyblades up and then down, swinging at the chains. The links broke apart, shattering and becoming objects of light before fading away, leaving an unprotected door behind. Nudging it with his keyblade, Riku watched it swing open. 

Unlike Hollow Bastion, this world wasn't complete darkness. He could see the faint glowing of an unknown source radiating from below, illuminating the top and allowing Riku to make out the shape of the stone steps that led up to the door. Taking a tentative step forward, Riku stepped into hell.

The door began to close, forcing Riku down a few more steps. He stopped and peered over the edge of the narrow staircase. It'd be a long drop if he accidentally tripped and fell over the side. Biting on his lip, he edged closer to other side, his back brushing up against the rock face.

Taking in a shuddering breath, Riku brushed away whatever doubts surfaced in his mind. _Aerith, think of Aerith. Do this for her._

He descended a few more levels, frowning in concentration. Now with the door shut, he had to feel for the next step or inadvertently step over the side. Though there was light below, it didn't reach far enough to illuminate the steps. This was like being blind again--he only needed to sense his way to the ground. Just because he couldn't see didn't mean he'd lost his sense of touch or smell or… hearing.

Riku straightened, finally becoming aware of the footsteps--not his, but someone else's. He turned and staring at the monstrous figure of a half decayed woman. She grinned at him and reached forward with two bony hands, grasping onto his arm. Before Riku could even react, he was heaved over the side of stairs and was falling. Above him, he could hear the woman cackling gleefully at him.

Falling and falling and falling, yet somehow, Riku didn't feel any worry. Sora would come. He would save him. Riku's breath caught in his throat as his train of thought finally registered. It'd be like before at Hollow Bastion? How much luck could he run on? He couldn't just depend on some intangible sylph to pop up every time he was in trouble and perform some miracle to help him. Eventually his luck would run out, the illusion might not show up and he'd die. 

Sora… the illusion… 

_"Well… actually you really don't look that well. I guess crashing into a planet without using a protection spell will do that to you, huh?"_

Squeezing his eyes shut, Riku summoned the power within him. "Wind!" he shouted. Opening his eyes, he saw no change but could feel it. The Aeroga spell surrounded him, forming a protective bubble around him. If he focused hard enough, he could almost see the spell.

His eyes were directed away from the nearly invisible shield to the glowing ground beneath him--the source of light in the cavern. Riku realized quickly enough that it wasn't the glowing ground that was illuminating the room. It was a river--a flow of not water, but spirits. A chill ran down Riku's spine as he realized that the trajectory was sending him straight for the middle of this river. Bringing his arms up, he covered his face and felt himself splash into the cesspool of death. 

Kicking and flailing, Riku broke the surface and screamed when he came face to face with the sunken head of a soul. It stared right at him, its thin arms clawing at his chest. The souls grabbed at him. Some grasped his ankles, others grasped his arms and all tried to tug him under, to suffocate him and force him to join their ranks.

_Stay away from me. Stay away from me. Stay away from me! **Stay away from me! STAY AWAY FROM ME!!!**_

Riku swung with the Oblivion, cutting them apart. It had no real effect. They were already dead. They only needed to join together again, and they'd be whole enough to continue assaulting him. But he wouldn't die, not like this, not when Aerith was still back in Hollow Bastion, still crying. 

Not when he still needed to see Kairi.

They pulled him under again, and Riku realized that having two keyblades only worsened the matter. They didn't harm the dead and were only weighing him down. Struggling, he broke free from the souls' grasps and had enough time to will his keyblades away again. He shot for the surface and felt his head smack against something hard. His hands felt along the hard object until he felt its edge and pulled himself up. He gasped, taking in wheezing breaths, and dragged himself out of the stream of souls. Pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around himself, he remained still for several minutes. His heart pounded against his chest. Too many thoughts, too many emotions crowded his mind. He nearly sobbed.

A cough beside him alerted Riku that he wasn't alone. He sat up, backing away and nearly falling over the edge, and surveyed his surroundings. He realized that he was on a raft, surrounded by half rotting creatures. They were almost like the souls in the pool, yet they almost seemed to be alive. Their stench, however, told otherwise. 

"The living aren't allowed on this boat," a coarse voice grated at him. 

Riku stared to his side and saw the owner of the voice, a living skeleton. Living wasn't the right word, Riku realized, nothing was living here. They were all dead, and he would be too if he stayed here any longer or, at the very least, he was going to lose his mind.

The skeleton leaned forward and, though it was impossible for it to do so, the being seemed to sneer. "I _said--_"

"I _know!_" Riku snapped. He stood up, making his keyblades appear. "But I don't care what you say. I'm here to see Hades."

"No one gets to see Hades," the skeleton retorted. "No one living, that is."

"Then I'll be the first," Riku snarled, pointing the Oblivion at the being.

The skeleton snorted and waved its hand. Hands with elongated arms came from the ceiling, snatching at Riku and pulling him up. The boy grunted, tired of being grappled and handled against his will. Swinging his keyblades, his weapons sliced through the hands neatly, and he tumbled back onto the raft. He growled, stomping towards the ferryman, each footstep tilting the boat from side to side, threatening to capsize the vessel. The passengers and its driver looked about in worry.

"You'll take me to Hades," Riku said, his voice low. He sliced at the edge of the boat with his keyblade. "Or I sink this ship."

Harrumphing, the skeleton turned its back on him. "Do what you want. You'll get eaten by the Guardian anyway."

Guardian. Riku knew fully well what the being was referring to. Still, he also knew that Sora had gone up against it and had been able to defeat it. Riku was fairly certain that his current skills were superior to what Sora's had been when the boy had gone up against the Guardian, meaning he'd have no trouble going up against it

"Let me worry about him," Riku said, shrugging. "You concentrate on… whatever it is you do." 

He turned away from the animated skeleton, no longer able to stare at him and suppress the shivers that were threatening to run down his spine. Riku heard the ferryman snort and then snicker before the raft became moderately silent. The silver haired boy forced himself to ignore the anguished cries of the damned souls and to focus on watching for signs of the Guardian.

A snarl reverberated through the cavern. Riku's grip on his weapons tightened, and he turned, facing the front of the raft. The first thing he saw was the ferryman, seemingly sneering at him; the second was the giant three headed creature, canine in shape but demonic in nature. It snorted and stomped the ground with its paws, clearly agitated by the scent of a living being that had entered its domain.

"Here it comes, boy. Cerberus," the skeleton said. "And he's one hungry puppy. Afraid Hades doesn't take care of his pets too well."

Approaching the front of the raft, Riku brought the hilt of his keyblade up and smashed it into the ferryman's ribcage. The skeleton stumbled, thrashing its arms as it came dangerously close to the raft's edge. Ghostly hands shot forward from the river, grabbing its ankles. Riku watched placidly as the ferryman was pulled into the pool of souls, screeching for help. The boy contemplated pulling the being out but thought no further when Cerberus' powerful jaw snapped inches away from him. The creature's putrid breath flooded the air, causing bile to rise from Riku's stomach that he desperately fought back.

The demon roared as it snapped at Riku with all three jaws. The force of its attack swerved the raft. Riku stood firmly against the rocking vessel. The boy bent his knees and shot into the air, vaulting over the distance that separated him from the creature. He landed on the bank, the ground vibrating under the impact. Cerberus whirled about, and the head closest to Riku reared back, black flames gathering in its mouth. The boy knew that any magical attack that involved black flames was bad and made a dash down the side of the bank. Cerberus spat the black energy forward, narrowly missing the boy as he threw himself to the right. His shoulder slammed against the ground as he landed. There was a numbing pain in his arm, nearly making him drop his weapon. Gritting his teeth, Riku pushed all thoughts of pain away and got to his feet, running as the dog reared back its heads for another barrage of black energy.

"No you don't," Riku growled, pointing his keyblade at the beast. "Force!" 

A sphere of black magic sprouted from within the creature, expanding and encompassing Cerberus. The magic bent and crushed the dog until it was nearly the size of Riku's hand. The spell wore off quickly, and the dog was released from its prison. As anticipated, Riku saw the dog swaying from side to side, disoriented from the effects of Graviga. Immediately he rushed forward. Bringing up his Keyblades, he jumped and swiped at the demon, his keyblades cleaving through the dog's chest. All three heads let out a deafening howl that shook the cavern. Loose rock fell from the ceiling as Cerberus stomped away, widening the distance between itself and Riku.

Ducking his head, Riku moved away as larger pieces of rock began to fall. He held his arm over his head and searched the area for the giant dog, spotting the creature in the distance. With his arm still held over his head, Riku charged, his keyblade raised. The three-headed dog spotted the boy's attack and snarled as it began rearing back onto its hind legs. Riku stopped, experience telling him to cease his attack, and without thought, he jumped. The demon dog's front paws collided with the ground, sending a shockwave across the cavern. A collective wail rose as the shockwaves shook the river of death. Twisting his body, Riku landed on the dog's back. Lifting up the keyblade, he brought it down.

"STOP!"

Riku halted, the tip of his weapon centimetres away from penetrating the demon's flesh. Gazing in the direction of the voice, the boy spotted a girl, or at least a being that looked like a girl. It was a glowing figure of soft green light adorned from head to toe with flowers. A goddess, he realized, and lowered his keyblade. 

"Please, don't hurt Cerberus," she murmured. Her gaze, which had been focused on the ground, was now locked with his. Her eyes pleaded with him in the same manner Kairi would plead with him to spare the life of an insect he'd meant to flatten. Like with Kairi, he couldn't refuse that gaze and lowered his keyblades. The demon snarled and heaved him off its back with ease. Riku managed to land on his feet and scrambled to dash away as Cerberus snapped at him, saliva spraying in the air with each jaw that clamped shut. Riku ran for the girl, grabbed her arm in mid stride and pulled her along with him, the demon dog at his heels. The goddess let out a gasp and pulled her arm away.

"What are you--?" Riku began and stopped when the girl held up a hand. She shook her head and flung her hands out as Cerberus came to a halt. It lowered its middle head, pressing its nose against her stomach, and like every dog Riku had ever encountered, it sniffed. The goddess laughed, patted the dog's nose and leaned forward, whispering soft words that Riku could barely make out.

"Go on now," she told it. "Leave."

The dog let out multiple whimpers and shot a dark glare towards Riku before backing away and turning to leave. The goddess clasped her hands behind her back and faced him. There was a gentle smile on her face as she approached him. 

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?" Riku asked, taking a step back.

She stared at him blankly, making Riku wonder if there were something on his face to be embarrassed about until the goddess suddenly laughed. White and pink petals fell from the flowers on her head, catching in the silver tangles of her hair. "Nothing," she replied. "Never mind… just um… you're here to see Hades right?"

Seeing him nod, the girl took his hand and gently tugged him forward. "Then follow me," she replied. "I can take you to him."

Hesitating, Riku glanced back towards the disappearing shape of the guardian beast before finally allowing himself to be led. "How did you know who I wanted to see?"

Ahead, the girl's lips twisted into a rueful smile though she kept her gaze in front of her. "There are many people like you… those who come here to bargain for the life of a loved one." She paused and stared at him, her eyes narrowed. "Except you haven't lost a loved one--well not recently--you don't have that 'look'. You're doing this for someone else."

Riku averted his eyes, his face turning pink as he thought of Aerith. "Yes…" he replied. "It's for someone else… she's a very beautiful woman."

"But she's not your lover."

"No."

The girl stopped and released her hold on his hand. "Then why do this for her?" she asked.

"I…" he stopped, trying to find the right words to express his reasoning. There was Aerith, smiling at him, beautiful and full of light--Aerith cradling the body of Cloud, her face rended with pain. "This woman, Aerith, she's beautiful. She's especially beautiful when she smiles, and… the man who took away that smile… I could have stopped that smile from fading away."

Plucking a flower off the top of her head, the girl twirled it in between her thumb and index finger. A smile adorned her face as she stared at him. "You're very gallant," she told him. Taking his hand, she placed the flower into his palm and closed his fingers around it. "Do you love her?"

_No… but… she's just like Kairi… and I lo…_ Riku shook his head. "No," he replied, deadpan. "I don't love her."

The girl nodded, though her dancing eyes told Riku that she was far from believing his words. Turning on her heel, the goddess led him through the underworld, her light a beacon of joy that made every malicious creature shy away from her. She stopped occasionally to help those who were damned with eternal punishment. Her presence was comforting enough that it brought smiles to their faces. 

"Here you go," she said softly, scooping up a handful of water and lifting it to the face of a haggard looking man. He smiled at her and gave his nod of thanks before drinking, his face looking as if he hadn't had water in ages.

"Thank you, Persephone," he whispered, his voice hoarse and dry.

"Not a problem," she told him and turned, waving goodbye. Riku followed her, glancing back at the cursed man before quickening his pace to catch up with her.

"Who's he?" Riku asked.

"Tantalus. He's there to be punished," the goddess replied. "He's one of the many people around here who are damned for the crimes they committed while living."

Riku glanced at the man one last time, watching him, immersed neck deep in water and trying to drink from it. The water would drain away. Above his head hung fruits, and when he tried reaching for them, a wind from nowhere appeared and blew them from his reach. Riku shook his head, wondering if this was the sort of punishment he'd be facing when he died.

"I'm really not supposed to help them," the girl said, softly. "But I can't stand it when people are suffering like that."

She stopped at the foot of a stairwell and pointed up. "You can find Hades in there," she said. "The front door's locked, but you can do one of your super jumps and get in through the window."

Riku stared at what the girl had been pointing at. A large demonic visage carved into rock stared back at him, its eyes, nostrils and mouth acting as windows for a large fortress. He pursed his lips and turned to face her, bowing his head. "Thank you," he said. "But why were you helping me?"

The girl smirked. "I told you before, I hate it when people suffer," she replied. She was about to turn but hesitated, staring him in the eye. "Please, be careful. You might think you have a chance against Hades… but you're a mortal and he's a god."

Staring back up at the fortress and then turning back to the goddess, Riku was surprised to find her gone. Smiling, he pocketed the flower she'd given him. Riku turned back to the demonic face and tensed. He jumped, shooting into the air. He was kilometres off the ground before he was level with the 'eyes' of the demon face, and he reached forward, grabbing onto the edge of the window. His body slammed against the wall at the halt of his ascent, knocking his breath away. Gasping for air, he struggled to climb into the room before his grip failed him, and he collapsed over the edge and to the floor. Coughing, the boy stood and stepped forward, tripping over his own feet. His arms flailed as he reached for something to grab onto, and he caught onto a table, promptly pulling it down with him.

"ARGH!! Do you _know_ how many years it took me to set that thing up!?" 

The hemming of a black robe entered his field of vision. Riku brought his gaze up to see the irate face of underworld's lord. The god brought both hands to his head, running them over his blue flame hair and abruptly pulling them away and clenching them into angry fists.

"That thing took me ten years to perfect!" the god raged.

"Uh… sorry?" Riku offered. The god froze, staring at him. Lowering his fists, Hades took in a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair, nodding as he moved away from the boy. "I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm cool."

Riku watched as the god snapped his fingers and the mess in the room cleared away. Realizing that he was still on the floor, the boy stood up, brushing himself off as he cautiously stepped towards the god who was still mumbling to himself. 

"Uh… Hades?" he called for the god's attention. "You remember right? Riku?"

"Of course I remember ya, kid!" Hades exclaimed, whirling around and facing him. There was a wide grin on his face as he grabbed Riku's hand and shook it. "Great seeing you again. How long has it been? What? Five years?"

"Er, yeah," Riku replied, pulling his hand away. "Sorry about…"

"My map of cosmos that was my secret to dominating the worlds?" Hades said, shrugging. "Nah don't worry about it, I'll just get one of the henchmen to fix it or something."

"Oh… okay…" 

"So what brings you down to hell anyway?"

Riku began scratching the back of his neck as he shifted his gaze to the ground. "Um… yeah… about that… you have a soul of one of my friends down here, and I was wondering if you could…?"

"Release him?" Hades frowned, bringing his hand to his chin and stroking it. "Well that's a bit of a toughie, kid. I mean, I don't normally release souls from the underworld and all… well, for free anyway. Usually there's a trade off. Your soul for your friend's, you know, that sort of business."

Riku's shoulders slumped. "So there's no way to release him?" he asked.

"Well depends," Hades replied. "Who is this person?"

"I think his name was… Cloud?"

The god's pleasant visage shattered as he heard the name. A growl escaped from his throat as he scowled. "Cloud?" he snarled. "You want me to release him? Cloud, the tall depressant with the spiky blonde hair?"

"Yes," Riku replied. "Is there a problem?"

Hades snorted and shook his head. "Sorry, kiddo, no can do, not trading Cloud's soul for _anyone's_. That little chump broke our contract and ran off to be with his…" he clasped his hands together, his face looking disgustingly sweet as he spoke in an exaggerated imitation of a damsel's voice, "_one true love_!" 

"So… you won't release Cloud?"

"Try your luck elsewhere, kid. When a soul comes down here, it _stays_ down here. Well okay, there's been one or two exceptions, but Cloud ain't gonna be one of 'em!" Hades snapped, turning towards the exit. "I'm sick of dealing with _noble_ brats like you who come down here every time someone dies on them."

"Wait…"

Hades nearly jumped as he realized that the boy had somehow crossed from the middle of the room to directly behind him. How the kid did that he couldn't figure out and snorted. People like him came to Hades hoping to restore their loved ones everyday, and nine times out of ten they walked away empty-handed. Riku wasn't going to be any different just because he'd been Maleficent's lap dog at one time. 

"Listen kid," he began, turning to face Riku, and wheezed as the boy shoved a black keyblade into his chest. Back-pedalling, the god glanced into the eyes of his assailant, Riku, but it wasn't the same Riku he'd been conversing with before. The boy was grinning at him maliciously, his eyes glowing yellow as he pushed his weapon deeper into the god's chest.

"I don't know about gods… and whether or not they have hearts… but from the looks of it…" The boy jerked the keyblade, his smirk growing wider as he heard the god shriek in pain. "If I twist this keyblade just a little more, then I'm going to unlock your heart, and guess what… you're going to be a pitiful little Heartless!" He laughed, slowly turning the hilt of the keyblade, his glee growing with each second passed as the god trembling before him in fear.

There was a click, and the room's door slowly swung open. Riku growled at the interruption, summoning the other keyblade to his hand to take care of the intruder. He raised it, ready to perform Strike Raid, when he froze, seeing the fearful expression on Persephone's face. She held a hand to her mouth as she took in the scene before her and suddenly dashed for the god, her hand tugging at the keyblade in his chest. 

"STOP IT!" she shrieked as she tugged harder. "Please! Let him go!"

Riku lowered the Kingdom Key, staring at her in shock. "Why!?" he exclaimed, suddenly feeling betrayed. "_He's_ the reason why those men down there are suffering!"

"Please!" she begged. Tears trailed down her cheeks. "Hades is my husband!"

Riku took in a sharp breath, and incomprehensible hurt flooded his system. Pulling out the Oblivion, he stepped away. Something so pure and so full of life as Persephone… tied to a vile being like Hades. He saw the god collapse and turned away, unable to watch as the goddess tended to her _husband_.

"How…" he whispered, "how can you be married to him?"

"I… love him…" Persephone uttered the words. She took Hades into her arms, and he didn't struggle. "Try as I might, I can't hate him."

_This isn't love! How can love be this disgusting?_ Riku wanted to scream. He kept his jaw clamped and slowly faced the married couple. Pointing his Oblivion at Hades, he glared at the god. "Release Cloud now… or I won't be as merciful as before."

The god muttered a curse and snapped his fingers. There was a flash of light outside, and Hades struggled to stand. "You have until sun up to take him back to his body," he said and pointed to the door. "Leave before I decide your soul's good enough to take Cloud's place."

Riku stared at Persephone one last time. She avoided his gaze and, toying with the tips of her hair. Her eyes were still red from crying. Snorting in disgust, Riku pulled the flower from his pocket and threw it at her before marching out of the room.

* * *

  
  
Wow, Riku going down to Tartarus to retrieve Cloud's soul... now who didn't see that one coming? Apologies for not having this up sooner. Normally I like to update once a week, on Friday of every week if possible... but you know the whole dealio, been busy with finals, blah blah blah!! To tell the truth, I was also having some difficulty with this fic, especially with certain parts that I'm certain are sticking out like a sore thumb. Well, not really complaining too much, I'm just happy that I got this chapter done!! ^_^   
  
SPECIAL THANKS TO:   
  
Watergoddess: Awww, I'm sorry for the long wait for this chapter, just had a lot to deal with a lot this week, but now you can look forward to more frequent updates… and thank you! I glad you like my fic!  
  
Victorious Light: You couldn't figure out who Enigma is by now? Ah phooey, guess I haven't been dropping enough hints... or maybe I'm just plain evil and like confusing my readers? _::winks::_   
  
Meiko: Hmmm wow, another person who's enjoying Enigma/Kairi!! Sorry to disappoint about the lack of Kairi or Enigma in this chapter, but I'm promising that they're showing up in the next one. Thank you very much for your review, I try really hard to give accurate and proper descriptions and the fact that you've picked up on that makes me smile.   
  
Dragonmaster Dyne: LOL!! It wasn't very necessary for you to have gone and reviewed every chapter that you missed, but thank you anyway. I'm very flattered by your praise _::blushes::_ but come on! I'm not that great! There are plenty of authors out there who are better writers than I am... you for example. *G*   
  
Cynthia Chen: Always one of the first to review! Thank you for sticking with me so far. Hmmm Riku going evil... what a novel idea!! Just teasing... or am I?   
  
Koorino Megumi: Thanks for the beta reading, wow, under one day too and also for helping me out with some difficulties during some scenes. And it wasn't a problem pointing readers out to your fic considering Reverse Side of the Mirror deserves more reviews that it's getting and I definitely agree that reviews to happen to make a difference, it gives you extra motivation for writing and all that. And Enigma/Kairi? Well... we'll see what happens.   
  
Special thanks also goes out to Refugee--best darn Final Fantasy writer I've ever come across in a while--for helping me out with difficulties as well. More thanks also goes out to ThouThouMr.Thou--best Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts gamer out there--for helping me out with Cerberus' moves.   
  
And finally... been saving you for last, Shinji Ikari:   
First of all... wow, I'm very honoured that you reviewed my fic. I've read some of the reviews you've given to other fics and I must say that I never thought you'd actually read anything of mine. My apologies if I offended you by calling Cloud and Aerith an "untouchable" couple, but an "untouchable" couple in my opinion are just couples I really enjoy... meaning they are couples with relationships that I will _never_ alter or change. It was by no means bashing Tifa since she's a great character as well, but I'm in the Cloris ship and I've been that way for quite a while. Long before I ever played Final Fantasy VII, I was already a Cloud and Aeris fan, possibly because her death is so well known that I've always seen their relationship as being tragic. I appreciated the time they had together on the first disk more than I'd been able to appreciate Tifa and Cloud.   
Yes, I'm very well aware of Mr. Nomura's interview and that he stated Cloud's 'light' was left ambiguous so we, the gamers, could interpret Cloud's search anyway we saw fit. It's just that I've interpreted Cloud's light as being Aeris, perhaps you saw his light as being something totally different, but hey, that was what Nomura wanted in the first place.   
I'm glad to find a person who's rooting for Riku's victory rather than Sephiroth's. Annoying as it may be for Riku to lose, I find it pretty realistic for someone with Riku's skill to barely be able to hold his own against Sephiroth. On Riku being able to revive himself, keep in mind that I really haven't stated how Riku managed to rise from the dead, Riku _thinks_ that he's still alive because he's an Unknown, but there's been a circumstance before in the past where Riku managed to escape death thanks to outside help. Cloud on the otherhand, he has "powers of darkness" and as we all know, dark powers usually aren't meant for healing.   
Sephiroth's reasons for being a total bastard? I don't feel I really need to go into that as it's spoiling a little too much, but there's more to his behavoir than just rejected love.   
Sora and his mother: You've said everything I wished to expressed about those two, even opened my eyes to some new light. ^_^   
To tell the truth, I've never played Final Mix so I wasn't aware of the fact that the boss was actually called Unknown. Prior to writing this fic, I did my research, went to Gamefaqs, Ansemreport.com, read all I could on Final Mix, gathered interpretations of Deep Dive and ASAS and this fic is the result of that research. The boss, I believe is officially known as the Enigmatic Man and I remember reading off somewhere that Unknown really isn't an official term but I'll take your word for it.   
Also, I do believe you're mixing up someone else's fic with mine as I don't recall ever writing down Kairi being an NEO.   
The space in between worlds, the World In Between, was a concept that I pulled out of nowhere. I'm usually not the type to take the workings of a different author and apply it to my fanfic. I agree with you whole heartedly about the FF characters in Kingdom Hearts being completely different characters from the Final Fantasy games.   
On a different tangent, you'd definitely have me as a reader if you ever post your fic. Also, I obviously noted your Albedo quote and I loved it. So you're a Xenosaga fan too? I've been a big fan of the Xeno series and my reverence of the games is so great that it's the one fandom I refuse to write fanfiction for.   
  
And whew!! My fingers are hurting from all that typing!! Thank you again to all those who have reviewed and those who helped me out with this chapter. Drop by again for chapter ten as Riku, Kairi and Enigma are reunited!! 


	10. Back Again

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

** Chapter Ten: Back Again**

It took a lot of convincing on Rinoa's part before they could manage to separate Aerith from the body. It was Squall who ushered the grieving girl to her room while Rinoa, using a Float spell, moved the body to an empty room and laid Cloud's still form on a bed. 

Rinoa couldn't take her eyes off him. Cloud had always been aloof, like Squall, and he tended to keep to himself, but she'd known him since they were children, and seeing him dead made her knees weaken. His face had already gone ashen, and painted on it was a look of peace. It almost, just almost, looked as if he were sleeping. 

She didn't turn when she heard the door open. Rinoa already knew that it was Squall. The warrior stepped up to her side and silently took her hand. She stared up at him and saw the passive look on his face but knew that it was all just a mask. 

"Let's not stay here any longer," he said softly.

Slowly, Rinoa nodded and allowed herself to be led out of the room. Stopping once they were in the hall, she squeezed his hand and saw the quizzical look on his face. "Squall… never leave me," she pleaded, burying her face into his arm. "Never leave me like Cloud left Aerith."

Squall untangled himself from her grip and held her close to his chest with one arm. "I'm not leaving you, ever," he promised. 

Reassured, Rinoa relaxed against his body. Together the two walked as far as they could from the room, neither noticing the frail figure making its way down the other side of the hall.

Stopping in front of the door the couple had just exited from, Aerith leaned against it for support, bracing herself for what she knew would be on the other side. Resting her hand on the knob, she trembled and clamped one hand over her mouth, choking back a sob as she slid the door open. She saw the corpse on the bed, and tears began to slide freely down her cheeks. 

Holding out a hand, Aerith stumbled towards the bed and collapsed on her knees beside the body. Taking his hand, she pressed it against her cheek. It was icy cold, and the touch only caused more tears to form. She closed her eyes and laid her head against the bed, allowing her tears to pool on the sheets.

Twining her fingers with his hand, Aerith shifted, moving closer to Cloud until her head was resting against his chest. She didn't care if his body smelt heavily of dried blood--it was _his_ blood. The same blood that flowed within their child. They'd planned on becoming a family, her as the mother, Cloud as the father, the baby, Auntie Rinoa, Uncle Squall, Uncle Cid… even Aunt Tifa.

Tifa… what would she tell her now? Blinking, she held a hand to her eyes as the room brightened. Aerith wondered why no one had bothered to close the curtains when they'd put Cloud in here. The sunlight didn't seem to fit at all, and it only worsened her mood. Slowly she moved away from Cloud. The light, she realized, wasn't coming from the windows, but from Cloud. A light surrounded his body, spreading from his heart to the rest of it. The hand was holding grew warmer and, slowly, his fingers tightened around hers. 

Cloud's eyes opened, and she could see him blink as the light faded away. He took in a deep breath, looking as if he'd just woken from a deep sleep, and slowly he turned his gaze towards her. They stared silently at each other. Finally, Cloud smiled at her. Aerith bit down her lip, fighting back a sob as she moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Unable to hold back her tears, she began crying freely.

Stroking her back, Cloud pulled away from her and grinned. "I'm here," he said. "I'm back."

Aerith took his hand, placing it over the life that grew within her. "Welcome home," she told him.

***

"I don't understand… how?" Rinoa asked, staring into Cloud's vivid blue eyes.

They were gathered in the upper level of the library. Squall, Rinoa, Yuffie Aerith were all crowding around Cloud. Aerith was holding onto Cloud's arm, something that the blonde warrior would never have allowed her to do in public, but in light of the recent events, Cloud decided to let it slide just this once. 

There was an odd silence as they considered the answer to Rinoa's question. No one was able to come up with a plausible explanation. They only knew for certain that Cloud had been dead. They'd seen the body and even checked to make sure, yet somehow he was here, before them and certainly alive, despite the mortal wound he'd received. They all looked from one to another and exchanged shrugs and glances.

"A miracle," Aerith spoke up, breaking the silence. "That's what this has to be."

Cloud shifted uncomfortably as all eyes were once again on him. He stopped his fidgeting when Aerith squeezed his hand reassuringly. Hanging his head, Cloud knitted his eyebrows and sighed. "I don't know what happened."

Rinoa bit down on her lip as she remembered Riku's words. He had said he'd find a way, and here was Cloud, standing before them, alive and well. She turned to face Squall, who was leaning against the wall, his arms folded over his chest, sporting a scowl that twisted the scar on his face. She held a hand over her mouth, hiding the smile that was threatening to take form. He felt her eyes on him and brought his gaze from the floor towards to her.

"What is it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Rinoa shook her head and brought a hand to her heart. "Just thinking about Riku…" she replied. "Something he said makes me think he's the one behind… this…" Her gaze flitted over towards Cloud, who showed no reaction.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Squall muttered. "There's more to that boy than he let's on. His eyes, they have the same look as _he_ once had."

"What boy?" An accusing voice cut through the room, causing all heads to turn towards the door. Riku stood underneath the frame, his arms crossed against his chest and his eyes blazing with anger. Rinoa gasped as she stared at him. At that very moment, he was the very reincarnation of _him_.

When no one answered him, Riku stepped into the library, surveying all of the guilty faces and taking in their reactions. He took this as confirmation to his initial assumption and scowled. "So that's what you really think of me, huh?"

Though she barely knew him, Rinoa knew that something was amiss with the boy. Glancing over at Aerith, she saw the woman in pink frowning. Aerith also noted the difference and quickly moved away from Cloud. Stepping up to Riku, she stared at the boy, met his gaze unflinchingly and then wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you," she murmured. The boy grew tense underneath her embrace. Despite his reaction, Aerith pulled him closer, hugging him tighter. Slowly, Riku reached up and placed his hands on her back, returning the hug, and he relaxed against her body. 

She untangled herself from the boy and held him at arm's length. Seeing the softened expression on his face made her smile. With one hand, she brushed aside a stray lock of hair from his face, and she nodded in approval. "I know it was you who saved Cloud," she stated. "Nothing I can do for you will ever make up for what you've done for me, for my family."

All he'd done, his trip to hell and back, was worth it just to see Aerith's smile. Riku nodded shyly as she gently led him towards Cloud. The warrior locked gazes, and Cloud gave him a curt nod of acknowledgement before turning away. Riku heard an audible sigh escape from Aerith's lips. The woman turned back to him, still smiling, and shrugged.

"If you're really the one who brought Cloud back from the dead," Squall spoke up, catching Riku's attention, "then how did you do it?"

"I'd rather not say," Riku said, levelling a glare at the swordsman.

Squall met the boy's gaze, his expression deadpan. As expected, Riku was the one who broke the gaze. Everyone in the room knew of Squall's reputation for holding staring contests. No one was ever able to meet his intense gaze without flinching away, no one except for Rinoa. The girl in blue was pondering what to say to break up the tension when there was an audible creak. Being the one closest to the railing, Rinoa strolled over and gazed towards the lover level. Just visible over the top of one shelf, she could see a girl with ruddy coloured hair and a boy dressed in a leather duster much like Riku's. The two were glancing around, peeking behind bookshelves as if looking for something or someone. 

"Who are you?"

Rinoa nearly jumped, but managed to restrain herself when she realized that it'd been Squall who'd spoken. Somehow he'd come up behind her without her knowing. The pair was also surprised, and they glanced up to see them. The shock in the girl's face quickly melted away into a smile as she waved at Squall.

"Leon!" she exclaimed.

Rinoa glanced back at Squall, shooting him an accusing look. The warrior shrugged and approached the railing. "Do I know you?" he asked.

The girl stopped her waving and nodded. "Well we only met briefly… but I'm Kairi. Remember me?"

"Kairi?" Squall repeated. Upon hearing the name said, Aerith quickly moved towards the railing and smiled at the sight of the girl.

"Kairi!" she greeted. "What a coincidence, first Riku and now you're here."

"Riku?" the boy asked, speaking for the first time. "He's here?"

Aerith nodded and gestured behind her. "He's right here…" She trailed off when she stared back. Riku was no longer in the room. She met Cloud's gaze, and he waved a hand over towards the upstairs exit. She frowned and turned back towards Kairi. "Or maybe not."

The pair moved away from the lower level and began ascending the stairs. Kairi stared back at a few of the fallen shelves with a wary expression before joining the others at the upper level. Aerith approached her and gave her an appraising look. "You've really grown," she said. Both girls grinned at each other, sharing a secret joke that no one else seemed to get. 

"Who's your friend?" Squall asked. He was now sitting on the railing, both arms crossed over his chest as he stared coldly at the boy behind Kairi.

"Oh! Uh guys, meet Enigma," Kairi said, gesturing towards the boy. "He helped me get here."

Aerith bowed her head in greeting, giving Enigma a warm smile. "Well Enigma, welcome to Hollow Bastion," she greeted.

The boy's face showed no reaction to her kindness, and he stepped forward past Kairi. "We've been searching for Riku," Enigma stated. His eyes scanned the room, and he shook his head in frustration. 

"He was here a moment ago," Aerith said. "I don't understand why he would have disappeared…"

"Never mind, we can find him," Enigma said, strolling towards the door. His step faltered as he passed Cloud. Pausing, he stopped and turned to face the blonde warrior. 

"Something wrong?" Cloud demanded.

"There's something not… right," Enigma replied. 

"Ask your friend, Riku, then," Cloud growled, turning away. 

Shrugging, Enigma headed for the exit and paused, waiting as Kairi gave the others an apologetic glance and hurried to catch up. Aerith frowned as she stepped forward, watching Enigma as he reached to open the door.

"Sora."

Kairi whirled around, but Enigma simply stared back at her from over his shoulder. The woman in pink placed a hand over her heart as she smiled. "Riku's been looking for you."

"What makes you think that I'm him?" Enigma snapped and stepped out of the room. Kairi lingered as she met Aerith's gaze. 

The woman gestured for her to go on. "Be strong for him," she told her, casting a glace at Cloud then back at her. "They need our strength."

Nodding, Kairi left the room, having to run in order to catch up to Enigma. She saw him in the distance and called for him. The boy stopped and turned, waiting for her. Kairi came to a halt as soon as she was directly in front of him and placed both hands on her hips, scowling at the boy.

"What was that all about?" she demanded.

Enigma raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" 

"How you were so rude to those people," Kairi retorted, gesturing back towards the library. "They were only trying to be nice."

There was an irritated look on his face, and he quickly turned away. "I don't have time to waste being cordial to others," he snapped. He couldn't comprehend why she was questioning his motives, and the longer he couldn't figure out the reason, the more irritated he became. "I brought you along to help me, but so far you're far from being helpful."

Kairi swallowed hard as she stared at Enigma's back, searching for some sign of what he felt. It gave no information and only served to make her feel more isolated. What he said had hurt, and she suddenly didn't want to be near him anymore. Taking a step back, she turned and bolted. Enigma watched as she disappeared into the library and stepped after her. He thought of calling for her attention, but by that time she was already gone.

***

It was cold up here, freezing if one wasn't dressed properly and prepared for the low temperatures. No one came up here anymore, and because of the potential danger it held, it'd been deemed a restricted area of the citadel and sealed off.

He used to come here as a child. Usually he was alone and most of the time improperly dressed, and oftentimes he'd catch a cold after being up here. This place, a balcony that had collapsed on itself long ago, had been a restricted area even when he was young, but still he broke the rules and came here.

There was that one time Cloud had found him here and told on him. He'd been in a lot of trouble afterwards, but despite all of that, he still came here. This was his secret place, where he could simply sit and think.

_Such a pathetic existence you lead, clinging onto old memories of a past that no longer belongs to you._

That voice again! He growled, whirling around, trying to find the source, but like the many times before, there was no one around. Standing up, he scowled at the distance, trying to block the voice out. In his head, he heard a malicious laugh.

_Stop trying to resist me, fool. Your powers may be formidable, but there's no doubt that your mind is completely and utterly **weak**._

He howled as pain exploded inside his skull, sending him to the ground writhing. He clawed at the cement with his nails until his fingers bled. Hugging his chest to his knees, he clamped his hands against his temples, squeezing his eyes shut. The pain subsided soon enough, and he was nothing more than a wheezing mass on the ground.

_You've wasted enough time trying with your petty revenge. I want the princess, and so far you've given me nothing. _

Sephiroth struggled to a sitting position, gasping as he stretched his wing and realized that he must have bent it in his struggle on the ground. Grounding his teeth, he slammed a fist against the balcony. It shook and tilted forward, threatening to slide off its support beam.

"The princess… I don't even know who she is," Sephiroth retorted. "How can I find someone I don't even know?"

_There's another reason why you're not going back in there… that man's on your mind again. You worry so much about a boy who's turned his back on you._

The mocking tone in the voice made Sephiroth wince. He had enough power to destroy worlds, yet he could do nothing about this being that had access to the innermost secrets of his heart. He hated this feeling--he hated being helpless.

_Stop racking your tiny little mind about the boy. He's alive._

Sephiroth froze, and slowly he stood, leaning against the wall for support as he glanced up at the sky. "Alive?" he questioned. "How? I _saw_ him die."

_You, yourself, escaped death. You've come across many people who should have been dead but are alive. Why does this surprise you so?_

In a way it made sense. Sephiroth supposed that, if he could come back to life, then it wasn't impossible for Cloud. He wondered idly if this voice was the reason why Cloud was back to life.

_Locked in a prison forged by your own faults. Clearly you're not ready to return to Hollow Bastion. Take your time then. We have all the time in the world to waste. **The Gathering** will not happen until **he** is complete._

Who _he_ was, Sephiroth couldn't care less. He was too relieved to think. The pressure in his mind had released, and he knew that the voice had gone. He was alone now, the secrets of his heart was no longer being accessed. This made him smile.

* * *

And so we finally reach our tenth chapter! Yeah okay, so I lied last chapter about Sora, Kairi and Riku being reunited, things took an unexpected turn, one that I didn't foresee and well yeah, okay, I PROMISE they'll be together again next chapter. Riku's been acting a little angsty lately hasn't he? As many of you have been saying his mood's been a little "dark"... more on that will be revealed later. Just hope you guys didn't find that Aerith and Cloud seen as cheesy as I found it... but then again, cheese can be a little fun at times. ^_^ 

Yes... the Big Bad finally decides reveal himself after a long duration. I think most of you guys can figure out who he was... yes, he DID make an appearance in a previous chapter. Sadly, he seems to have quite a few "puppets" to play around with. Oh and there's a bit of a clue in the last bit about the relationship between Cloud and Sephiroth. I don't know if it shows up... but when I was writing "the voice" I kinda had Albedo (from Xenosaga) on my mind so I'm hoping the crazy little white haired man isn't showing through. 

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 

Koorino Megumi: Yes dearie, Reverse Side of the Mirror... *coughs* Yeah yeah, go ahead and laugh. I don't think I deserve a lot of these descriptions since I was basing Tartarus on how Disney created it. Yeah, you better worry!! ::cackles:: 

Cynthia Chen: YEAH!! Go Riku! He _has_ been rather dark and I'm delighted to find out that I've writen his "dark" personality in an original way. ^_^ 

Meiko: Cool! You go to ansemreport.com too? Yeah, it's a really good site to find Deep Dive info, I don't what I would have done without it. Thanks for the encouragement! 

Victorious Light: Nope... not evil... just unintentionally confusing. Though I like this idea of me being evil. Thanks for the compliments and I'll try to get the next chapter up soon! 

Shinji Ikari: 

Nah, I didn't think you were some sort of elitist, I'm just a little self-consious about my writing, that's all. You know, I do believe I've read your argument on GameFAQs before. You make quite a few valid points, but I have a hard time in suspending my belief that a kid, even if he IS fast, would be able to defeat a skilled swordsman and Sephiroth was pretty fast when I fought him... yeesh, it took me an hour of just standing around waiting for the perfect opportunity to whack at him and then retreating in order to defeat him. That's just me, considering how my brother was able to defeat him under fifteen minutes. So I guess you do have a point there. 

Mythology: Yes, I'm into Nordic, Greek, Eastern myths. I enjoyed slipping in some references about Tantalus and Persphone in chapter nine. I've even had some of the characters parallel a few mythological figures. Balder and Hod being two very big examples and you can take a stab at who's supposed be those two. 

Xeno: I had a suspicion with the Lacan part, but a part of me also thought that Lacan was also a reference to Jacques Lacan as well. I agree with you about Xenogears, I seem to prefer it over Xenosaga, probably because it has closure and Xenosaga needs to rely on Episode II before anything starts making sense about it. It's too bad about the RPG, I probably would have participated had I'd taken an interest in Xenogears a little earlier. 

Well Riku might listen to Persephone on some extent, but I thought I made the point clear enough through Riku's threat that Persephone's restraint on him wasn't that strong. 

The Oblivion=The same keyblade to unlock hearts... that's a subject I'll be touching on soon in the next few chapters. 


	11. Between the Pages

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

** Chapter Eleven: Between the Pages**

Kairi and Enigma had appeared. He knew it was them, even before anything was said. He could sense them, their auras: Kairi's a beating pulse of light and Enigma's just exuding strength--it was them, and they were here. He had stepped away, past the shelf, and watched as Squall had grown impatient with Rinoa's silence and gone up to the railing to question the two below him. His eyes scanned the room, and he came across Cloud's gaze. The spiky haired warrior remained still as Riku slowly took a few steps back. Finally, Cloud raised an eyebrow, but turned his gaze towards Aerith. Everyone else was too distracted with the new comers to notice when Riku slipped out of the room. 

As soon as he'd closed the door, Riku rushed down the hall, trying to get as far away from the library as possible. Chances were that Enigma had already sensed his presence, that boy had radar with a 100-kilometre radius. 

What was more surprising was the presence of Kairi. He didn't want to think of how she had ended up with Enigma… or even why she was with him. The only thing Riku was sure of was that he didn't want to see her. After everything he'd done, he wasn't quite certain if he would be able to stand being scrutinized under her gaze.

He stopped running when he came across a flight of stairs, and he began climbing them, never pausing as he went to the next level. Riku turned to his left and ascended a new flight of steps, repeating the same procedure on every landing he came across.

Each floor, he realized, had different uses. Some of them were utilized as a commercial areas with wide-open windows. Merchants had shops set up and down the halls, and there were quite a number of people perusing through the stands. Others floors were used as residential areas. Still, he didn't bother to stop on any of these floors. They were too crowded, too full of people, and right now all he wanted was to be alone.

The higher he went, the shabbier the condition of the stairs became. By the time he had reached fiftieth floor, he found the entrance blocked by rotten boards. Cobwebs sealed any cracks between the wooden planks, preventing any view of the floor beyond the boards. He shrugged and continued up. By now the stairs had lost their velvet carpeting and he was stepping on dusty concrete. He ducked his head a few times to avoid cobwebs and other low hanging objects. For a moment he thought he saw the yellow stare of a Heartless gazing down at him from up in the darkness. Riku readied his keyblade, but the supposed Heartless had skittered away by the time he was close enough to see it clearly. It was just as well. He felt too exhausted to fight.

He dismissed his weapon and wondered idly if there was even an end to these stairs. Riku came across a landing and turned left to reach the next flight. He came to an abrupt halt as a beam of light struck him in the face. Holding up one hand to shield his eyes, Riku ducked beneath the beam to peer up into the darkness. Ahead he could make out a wall of boards that barricaded any further ascent. Beyond it, Riku assumed was an open exit, considering the amount of light that was seeping through the cracks of the barricade. 

Stepping up to the barrier, he brushed his hand against the wood, sweeping away mould and grime with his fingers. Wiping the gunk off on his jacket, he rapped his knuckle against a plank and watched as it wobbled slightly before becoming still. Bringing up a boot, he reared his foot back and stomped hard on the wood. There was an audible crack and the sound of grim sliding off the boards. Riku stomped again, harder, and this time the boards gave way under his foot. Yanking his leg free, Riku began prying the planks apart, making an opening large enough for him to fit through. 

Brushing himself off, he turned away from the broken boards and stared up the stairs, wincing at the brilliance of the light. Narrowing his eyes until they were nearly slits, Riku slowly went up into the exit and found himself out in the open. He was struck by a blast of cold air, and the boy hugged himself, suppressing a shiver. 

He was on a balcony that leaned forward at a dangerous tilt, and Riku knew instantly why this place had been boarded up. Obviously the shabby condition of the balcony was a safety hazard, though he doubted anyone would have bothered going up here in the first place.

A fluttering in the distance caught Riku's eye, and he stepped up to the edge, straining to see. Feathers, he realized, the fluttering objects were large, black feathers. He shuddered, wondering if Sephiroth were still here. He glanced around, as if expecting the one winged angel to appear, but saw nothing but the stone slabs of the balcony. If that abomination were to show up, Riku would have to fight him, and he had no desire to fight on a balcony that was ready to fall apart. He especially didn't want to go against an opponent who could easily fly away if that happened.

For a fleeting moment, Riku wondered what he would do if the balcony broke apart right then and there. A drop at this height would kill him, but then again, he recalled a time when he'd crashed into this planet from an even greater height and still survived.

As he backed away from the edge, he wondered what would have happened if the illusion hadn't been there to save him. Riku pressed himself against the wall and let out a derisive snort. He would have died of course. 

_ You had a sword impaled through your heart. You should have died then._

He held his hands up, staring at the stained gloves. These were the hands of a boy who should have died a long time ago. 

_Why have I been deemed worthy enough to live, considering all that I've done…?_

The wind howled past his ears, and above the roar he could hear the distinct sound of a deep voice speaking. "After all that has come and passed, your heart has weakened."

Riku glanced around wildly and back-pedalled--his feet brushing dangerously close to the edge of the stairs. There was no mistaking that voice. He knew it as if it were his own. Even after five years of its absence, it still rung clear in his mind. 

He took in a deep breath, ready to run, and froze in mid-step as he stopped himself from toppling backwards and down the stairs. He was afraid. Yet, he couldn't figure out why he was so afraid. Of all things, he should have been angry. The man who'd ruined everything for him was near, and this was his chance to exact revenge.

Calling his keyblades into existence, Riku stepped forward, glaring into the sky. "Show yourself, you coward! _Show me your face, you bastard!_"

Except for the wind blowing at his face, nothing moved. Snarling, he slashed wildly at the air before letting his arms drop by his sides, wondering if maybe he'd just imagined the voice. "Put away your weapons, Keyblade Master. They're useless against me."

Immediately the keyblades vanished, and Riku was grasping nothing but air. He turned, glancing in every direction, but there was no sign of the mad scientist. He was alone with a being that was exceptionally well hidden.

Riku growled audibly and clenched his empty hands into fists. "Where are you?"

"Have you not figured it out yet?" his voice floated in the air as a hollow whisper.

Riku nearly jumped as a figure materialized in front of him. Donned in a dark leather jacket and white gloves, Ansem looked like the same overconfident scientist who'd possessed his body years ago. Stepping towards the boy, the man leaned forward, grinning at him. "A boy like you should be able to solve the mystery or…" He disappeared, replaced by the small form of Sora, dressed in his red shorts, pointing a wooden sword at him. "…Do you need your answers to be spelt out?"

"No!" Riku screamed. Calling his sword in hand, Riku sprang forward, the blade cleaving the apparition in two. Sora stared expressionlessly at him and pointed at the sword with a shake of his head.

"You've seen it before… I am intangible in this form. Weapons are useless against me."

Riku let his sword clatter to the ground and backed away, shaking his head, denying what he was seeing. "Stop… talking to me… in _his_ form!"

"There's no denying the fact that you find this illusion the most comforting," the boy said. The illusion smirked at him as he vanished from sight.

Everything was becoming blurry. Riku felt as if he were underwater. It was becoming increasingly hard to move. He lost his footing and fell, his feet knocking his sword aside. It slid noisily across the balcony, but to Riku it was mere background noise; he could barely hear it.

Suddenly he stood. Like watching a movie, he saw his arm being raised to face, he saw the fingers coming together to form a fist and then relaxing. The part of his mind that could still think realized that this was oddly familiar.

"Would you rather we communicate in this manner?" His mouth was moving, but the voice was not his own. It was Ansem's words coming out of his lips.

_In me…_ Riku drowsily realized. _He's in me._

Ansem laughed, using his body to laugh. Riku's anger flared, and it was suddenly as if he were shoved to the surface after being an hour underwater--he had control again. 

"Get out of me," Riku growled. "I am not your puppet! This is my body!"

He was shoved back as Ansem stepped forward. "Believe what you will boy, but you gave your body to me five years ago when you were willing to do so to gain more power. Now we share the same body, even if we are two different minds."

Ansem paused, hearing the protests in his mind and the silent cursing directed towards him. His smile twisted into a sneer as he headed for the stairs. "This is how it will remain… that is until we find my original body."

The noise in his mind subsided. Smirking, Ansem stepped back, gently pushing the boy on stage. Riku didn't realize that he'd been given control again until he noted how clear everything around him was. His head came up as he heard the sound of footsteps echoing from the stairwell. Straining his ears, Riku could hear the distinctive fall of high heels on the stone steps.

His keyblade appeared in his hand, and Riku stepped forward, peering into the darkness. "Who's there?" he demanded. The figure in the darkness took a few more steps forward, and Riku relaxed upon seeing Rinoa's familiar face. 

Bracing one hand on the wall, Rinoa straightened and smiled at him. "Just me," she replied. "Aerith sent the rest of us to find you. She was a little worried when you disappeared on us like that."

Riku felt a pang of guilt as he stepped down to join her. "I needed a little fresh air," he lied. "It was just a little too stuffy in the library."

One glance at her face and Riku knew that she didn't buy his story, but she nodded slowly and didn't press the issue any further. Turning, she gestured back at the broken boards. "There's a reason why those were put there, you know. This place is a restricted area. It's been like that for years."

Riku shrugged and began heading down. "I was just curious about what was up here."

"Nothing much to see…" Rinoa murmured from behind him. 

Frowning at her low tone, Riku glanced back at her and saw the slight frown gracing her normally smiling face. "What is it?" he asked.

Catching Riku's concerned gaze, Rinoa smirked and shook her head. "Old memories," she replied. "That's all."

"Oh…" Riku said, not wholly satisfied, but just as Rinoa had left his problems alone, he did the same for her and allowed the issue to slide. Prying away a board, he stepped through and waited until Rinoa was on the other side of the barricade before continuing on. "So how did you know I was up there?"

"Some of the other residents told me," she answered. "I was also following your footsteps for a while until it got too dark to see anything."

"Footsteps?" 

Holding one hand against the stone wall, Rinoa began leading the way down. "No one ever comes up here, so it's natural for there to be a thick layer of dust on the steps, and well, you get the picture," she explained.

"Yeah," Riku said absently. He mentally kicked himself, realizing how bland his reply was. He hurried to find something else to say, but by the time a proper reply came to mind, the opportunity had passed. There was only silence between them. He stared at her back, wondering if he had somehow hurt her feelings. 

The two descended the stairs in silence, Riku watching her carefully all the way down. Twice he had to reach out and catch her as she slipped, her shoes not being the most suitable footwear for walking on stone steps. Eventually they reached the main floor, and Riku hesitated as he watched Rinoa lead the way to the library. She stopped just short of entering, noticing him still standing at the bottom of the steps. The girl in blue rolled her eyes and beckoned at him. 

Grudgingly Riku joined her at the door and was ushered into the library. By now it was nearly empty. Both Cloud and Squall were gone. Riku guessed that they were still looking for him. Not that he missed their presence anyway. Both of them lacked skills for being sociable that their significant others possessed. Only Aerith remained, and she had her back turned to him, engrossed in a conversation she was holding with--Riku felt his stomach tighten--Kairi.

Rinoa closed the door, a little too loudly in Riku's opinion, and both girls turned to face him, apparently noticing his presence for the first time since he'd entered the library. Aerith's curious expression warmed into a smile, but Kairi just stood there, staring at him in shock. He wondered how soon it'd be before she'd approach him and slap him across the face. After all he'd done, he wouldn't be surprised if she stomped on his foot as well.

"Riku," Aerith greeted, hurrying towards him and giving him a hug. "Where were you? You just disappeared on us, and I got so worried."

"Ah… sorry," Riku murmured, though his eyes were still glued on Kairi, who was no longer looking at him. "I was… I just… I…" He glanced up into Aerith's green eyes and suddenly felt ashamed at his attempt to deceive her. He decided he'd rather not to answer her than lie, and after a moment of awkward silence had hung in the air, Aerith straightened and smiled again.

"Never mind," she said, shaking her head. She frowned slightly as she stared at Riku appraisingly. "I suppose you're tired after all that's happened. I'll show you two to the extra rooms."

Kairi shook her head. "I'm fine," she said. "I'd rather just stay here."

"Well, I'll be back later then," Aerith said. She placed a hand on Riku's shoulder. "Don't forget about what we talked about."

The girl brought a hand up to her mouth as she laughed. "I won't," Kairi reassured her. She paused and smiled at the woman in pink. "Thank you, Aerith."

Aerith smiled back. "Not a problem," she replied before leading the boy out of the library. Aerith gently closed the door behind her and turned to face him. "Ready?" 

"…Don't I get a say in whether I want to go or not?" Riku questioned.

"Compared to Kairi, you're the one who needs rest the most," Aerith replied. Her lips became thin lines as she eyed him. "You fought Sephiroth… and somehow you managed to bring Cloud back from the dead, and to top it all off, you _look_ like you need sleep."

Riku laughed, suddenly realizing just how shabby he probably looked. "I haven't had the chance to change," he admitted. 

"Then no arguing," Aerith said firmly, prodding him forward. "I'll find some extra clothes for you to change into. I think Cloud might have some old stuff lying around."

Riku grimaced at the thought of wearing something Cloud had worn at his age. He was prudent enough to keep his thoughts to himself and kept up a light conversation with Aerith as she led him to a suite located on the tenth floor. 

"My room's only six floors above," she said. "I'll be back soon, just make yourself at home in the meantime."

"Thanks," Riku replied, glancing about the suite. Not since his servitude to Maleficent had he been able to sleep in a room this luxurious. 

"Not a problem," Aerith said, pausing at the door to grace him with one of her warmest smiles before shutting the door behind her.

As soon as she was gone, Riku unzipped his jacket and threw it onto a nearby chair. He pulled off his gloves and kicked his boots off, flinging the objects across the room. There was a muttering in the back of his mind, one that he knew belonged to the other resident of his body. He ignored it, hoping that Ansem would just stay quiet. 

***

Kairi checked the shelves of books on the upper level of the library. Her hands ran over the spines of the hard covers, pausing once in a while when a catchy title peaked her interest. Occasionally she would pull out a book and flip through its pages before becoming bored and putting it back on the shelf. None of the books here interested her. It was just information about topics she'd have no use for. 

She sighed, closing the book in her hand and sliding it back onto the shelf. There were probably better books on the lower level, but in the ruined state that it was in, she doubted many books had survived whatever had happened down there. Somehow, she had a feeling that Riku was partly responsible for what had happened. After missing his presence for nearly five years, she never expected that she would react so coldly towards him. Turning away from the shelf, she felt her heart pound against her chest when she nearly bumped into another figure. Kairi jumped, slamming her back against the bookcase, and let out a shriek. 

She felt her face grow warm as she recognized the person. Glaring, she held out a hand and shoved him backwards. "Don't do that!" she exclaimed.

Enigma snorted as he folded his arms across his chest. "What did I do now?" 

Kairi narrowed her eyes at him and pushed herself away from the shelf. "Just go," she muttered. "Just go away."

Enigma caught her arm before she could walk away from him. "Why are you still angry?" he demanded. "Just because I said something?"

Kairi tugged her arm free and spun around to face him. "You just don't understand, do you?"

"Then make me understand!" he snapped. "Do you know how tiring this is? To deal with both you and Riku at the same time? I have to worry about you and also make sure that Riku doesn't go and get himself killed."

"I don't need you to worry over me!" Kairi screamed. She clenched her hands into fists. "I don't want you to worry about me… ever!"

She couldn't bear to look at him anymore and lowered her gaze. She blinked as Enigma's booted feet entered her field of vision. Staring upwards, her eyes locked with Enigma's gaze. She flushed, and the room suddenly grew warmer.

"Don't tell me to never worry about you." He placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing her back into the shelf. There was a fire in this eyes that Kairi refused to look at. She worried that if she searched deeper into his eyes she'd find the emotion she'd been afraid of… that she'd been hoping for.

"I'm always worrying, and…" He paused, waiting for her to look him in the eyes. "I apologize, for what I said earlier."

She knew that he still didn't understand what he'd done wrong, but seeing him trying to make amends made the icy block she'd placed in her heart melt. "There's no use in apologizing if you don't even understand why you need to," Kairi mumbled. Seeing the hurt in his eyes, she quickly gave him a small smile. "But I appreciate the thought."

Sliding his hand down her arm, he a hold of her hand, his thumb stroking her palm as he held her gaze. The fact that she didn't pull away made him smile as he leaned forward until his lips were right against her ear. His other hand was on her shoulder, and slowly he placed it against her heart, feeling the rhythm that was in tandem with her shallow breaths. 

"Kairi, please…" He stopped, closing his mouth as he tried to find the appropriate words. His thumb stopped, and he twined his fingers with hers. "Please, just… stay by my side."

She was smiling, but knowing that he couldn't see it, she tightened her hold on his hand in return. His lips were against her cheek and slowly trailed down to her mouth. Enigma pressed his lips against hers, causing Kairi to blink rapidly as she felt his hand encircle her waist, pulling her closer to him. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to melt against his frame as she pressed her hand against his chest. Their hearts were beating in unison.

"Oh… sorry."

Kairi's eyes flew open and darted in the direction of the voice. Enigma quickly broke away from her. His hands pushed her away as he took a few steps back himself. She held a hand against the shelf and caught herself. 

"Riku!" she cried. She stared at him, horrified. "Oh Riku! This…"

She stopped when he levelled his scowl at her. Turning away, she saw Enigma standing a few steps ahead of her. He was expressionless, looking different from how he'd been staring at her just a few minutes ago. 

"Just shut up!" Riku snapped. "I should have known that you'd do this with him… what is he? Your Sora substitute?"

"You're the one who should be quiet," Enigma whispered hoarsely, stepping forward. "Kairi can do whatever she wants."

"She doesn't _want_ you," Riku retorted. "She wants her _Sora_. Isn't that right, Kairi?"

"Be quiet!" Enigma shouted, walking even closer to Riku.

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" the boy hissed.

"I said," Enigma snarled, shoving Riku hard enough that the boy fell to the ground. "Shut up!"

Riku stayed on the ground, not bothering to stand up as the corner of his lips twitched. His mouth spread into a wide grin, and he laughed. Kairi winced as his laughter grew louder in volume. There was no amusement in his crowing. Enigma let out an audible growl and grabbed the front of Riku's jacket with both hands, lifting him off the ground, and shook him. Riku continued laughing.

Kairi squeezed her eyes shut as she brought her hands up to her ears. She could still hear him laughing, but at least she couldn't see him. She didn't want to see his face because it held the clear markings of a boy who was not quite sane. 

"Stop it…" Her voice came out as a tiny whisper, drowned out by Riku's insane cacklings. She opened her eyes and saw Enigma, still shaking Riku like he was a rag doll, and even that made her whimper. No one should even possess strength like that. She ran forward, grabbing onto Enigma's arm and trying to wrench Riku free. 

"Stop it!" she screamed at Riku. She faced Enigma as he quit shaking the boy. Their gazes locked, and Enigma promptly dropped Riku. 

"You two…" Kairi took in a deep breath as she took a few steps away from them. "You two used to be best friends."

"That would be true if I happened to be Sora," Enigma said tersely. 

"She obviously thinks you are," Riku muttered, his laughter having subsided.

"Just shut up!" Enigma snapped. He glared momentarily at Riku before turning on his heel and moving to the other side of the library. 

The silver haired boy sneered from his spot on the ground and scoffed as Enigma turned his back on him. Kairi glanced back from Riku to Enigma and sighed. Clasping her hands behind her back, she slowly approached Riku. 

"Riku."

He refused to look at her, though she could him scowling at the ground. "What?" he demanded.

Kneeling beside him, she placed her hand on his shoulder. Underneath her palm she felt him tense, but was relieved when he didn't shrug her off. Leaning closer to him, she rested her chin against his shoulder and glanced over at Enigma. He was watching her with narrowed eyes, and Kairi gave him a reassuring smile. He shook his head, but turned away. 

"Please don't be mad at me," she said softly. "You know I hate it when you get mad."

His scowl deepened, making Kairi wince. She knew exactly what was running through his mind. _Then you shouldn't have kissed him._ She felt guilty. All this was because of her; it was exactly the same as before with Riku and Sora, competing against each other just to get her attention. She understood Riku's anger, but at the same time, Kairi was also angry. Angry because that perfect moment had been broken, angry at herself for giving into Enigma, and most of all, she was angry because she had to be the one to feel guilty. She had no reason to be guilty--there was no reason at all for her to justify her actions. Yet here she was, trying to make amends for something Riku viewed as wrong. 

Riku took her hand with his and squeezed it gently before releasing it. "It's okay," he replied. "I forgive you."

Kairi saw Enigma whirl around, his eyes blazing with anger. She caught his gaze and shook her head in warning. He clamped his jaw shut and crossed his arms against his chest. Kairi reigned in an urge to sigh and patted Riku on the back, sliding her hand into his and tugging him upward.

"Come on, let's get up," she said, staring at Enigma. She gave him a smile. "Let's go for a walk, all three of us."

She held her free hand forward, waiting as Enigma stared at her and then at Riku. With a shake of his head, he stepped forward and held her hand with his. She gave both of their hands a squeeze before leading them out of the library.

* * *

Phew!! This took a while to write, partly because I've started a few projects over the summer and took on more than I could handle so I'm trying to organize my time, but I really, I should have taken an hour or two with this chapter, so I shouldn't make up excuses. Anyway, yes, just as I've promised... the big reunion and wow! I bet you guys expected that right? Heh!

As Megumi has stated, Enigma and Riku shouldn't even be in the same room, but Kairi's so naive. Oh well, I bet that's why they like her. Now, I hope knowing that Ansem's been messing around inside Riku's mind clears a few things up. For those of you who are wondering why Ansem didn't pop up earlier or made his presence known to Riku except as illusions, well that'll be answered later. There was some obvious Xenogears influence in this chapter, but that's a good game so bleh!

I'm not quite certain how you guys are going to handle Kairi and Enigma kissing. Normally I hate reading fics were a canon character starts a whole romance with an OC, but technically, Enigma isn't an OC since he was created by someone else, but his personality was concocted by me and... oi, I'm just going in circles. Oh well. Next chapter you'll probably be seeing more tension between Enigma and Riku. Also, you should pay careful attention towards what Riku says in the second half of this chapter because they're rather important. 

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 

Koorino Megumi: Thanks again for beta reading, especially since I know you have your own problems to handle, but I really appreciate the time that you're taking to edit my chapters. Of course, as you say, at least you get a special preview, lol! And now you can see that your worrying for Riku's justified. 

Ari Powell: A Riku fan! ^_^ Oh and I'd love to hear what you thought I was going to do with Riku, did it correlate with what I wrote this chapter? I love hearing opinions and theories! Oh yeah, Sephiroth's always cool. 

Refugee: Hey, don't quit on the speculating, send some to me in fact! You know I love your crazy ideas. 

Meiko: You're psychic apparently. Haha! Yeah, lookie at what happened to Enigma and Kairi. Oh yeah, I totally agree with you about the cold hearted types being cute! Of course they always make for bad boyfriends. 

Siita: Thank you! I've been rather worried about how people would take Riku's personality, but you like it so I'm glad! Oh and Enigma's identity is... well I can't tell, but I hope you'll be able to figure it out soon. 

O: LOL!! I hope you read on to the next chapters. ^_~ 

Yutann: Don't beat yourself up! I mean, the voice being Ansem is a logical choice to make. Of course I won't be telling you, but there's a very big clue to who the voice is in a previous chapter. My fic the best of thirty something other fics? Wow. ::blushes:: 

Victorious Light: What, you think I'd leave out The Gathering? Heh!! And what makes you think that it's Sora who needs to be completed. ::grins:: And go ahead and tell me who you think the voice is!! I wanna hear! 

ElfGoddess: I'm sorry for the long time it took me to update! The fact that you're checking to see for an update flatters me, really! Oh and I'm sorry about you not being able to post your fics, if you did I'd probably would have read them. Try and convince your mom a little more. After all, a little more pressuring can take you a long way. 

Shinji Ikari: I love your theories. Of course I have to refrain from either telling you whether or not they're correct, unless you don't mind me completely spoiling the entire fic for you and send you an email. Just tell me if you want, but that takes all the fun of reading what you come up with next. 

Hmm well, okay, I generally like spelling it Balder, but yeah, Baldur works too and Hod would be Baldur's twin brother, the one representing darkness. Hod was blind and couldn't see while Baldur was supposed to be a glorious god who represented light. Two characters from my fic are supposed to parallel Baldur and Hod, I think Hod would be very apparent now, Baldur could be tricky, but you've probably figured that one out too. Of course, we all know what Baldur's famous for in the myths and Hod's the one who throws mistletoe thorn after all. 

Thanks for the guide for fighting Sephiroth, though I don't think it'll do me a lot of good since I have incredibly slow reflexes, but now I'm seeing what you mean about the probability of Sora and Riku being able to defeat Sephiroth. 

As for Xenosaga, well I'm beginning to realize myself the reasons why I never really liked it so much. I could write a full page rant now on characterizations actually. One thing I could never understand is this fanboyism over KOS-MOS, she has absolutely no personality and everything she does in the game is based on her programing. I suppose her big guns and busty body makes up for the lack of characterization and her cardboard personality--Ugh. I can't believe she's beating Fei FFWA's RPG character poll. Yeah, that's enough from me on that. Thanks for the review, I really appreciate the detailed reviews you give, even when you point out the errors that I sometimes over look. 


	12. Reflections

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

** Chapter Twelve: Reflections**

Neither Riku nor Enigma had made a peep when they had strolled onto the balcony. They'd spent most of the trip in silence with Kairi wedged in between them. The awkward atmosphere that had lingered in the library trailed after them to the balcony. Kairi tried striking up a conversation, but shewas only met with rough grunts from both warriors. Eventually she gave up, deciding that she'd have a better conversation with a wall than with either of the two.

They stopped when they came across the railing, and Kairi released their hands, opting to lean against the bar and gaze over the edge. A cold wind swept up her hair, causing her to shiver. She wrapped her arms around herself. Below her was supposed to be a view of the watery landscape of Hollow Bastion, but at the moment it was too dark to really see anything Night had fallen a while ago. The sky wasn't as starry as she remembered, but Enigma had said something about the worlds being in danger again. She lost the smile on her face as the thought of both Enigma and Riku putting themselves in danger again to save the worlds entered her mind. Her hands tightened into fists. She wasn't going to let another five years pass before she would see her friends again. 

Pushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear, she stared up at Enigma. His lips were pressed together tightly, his eyes half-lidded--the look of someone lost in thought. Turning her gaze away from him, she stared back up at the night sky.

"What now?" she asked.

Enigma pushed himself away from the railing and turned to face her. "We continue the search for Sora," he stated.

He was still in denial of course. Kairi folded her hands together and brought her eyes up to him. She didn't want to push what she believed into his face. Only a day ago he'd been believing that he _was_ Sora, and now he was quick to deny any evidence. She could only assume that his about face was due to having so many people pressuring him. 

"Do you even know what you're doing?" 

Both Kairi and Enigma stared at Riku, who was draped against the railing, his head resting in his arms. "What?" Enigma asked.

"Why should I waste my time going with you and hunting down someone who could be dead for all we know?" Riku gave Kairi a significant look.

"Don't say that!" Kairi exclaimed. She shook her head, not wanting to hear any more about the one she loved being dead. The thought had crossed her mind during the darker moments of her life, and at the moment she didn't want to contemplate the possibility of Sora being dead.

Riku's covered the lower half of his face, but he was obviously smirking at her. "How do you know he's not dead then?"

Slowly bringing her gaze towards Enigma, she smiled. "I just know," she replied. She brought a hand to her heart. "I would know if he had died."

Riku slammed a fist against the railing, making her jump. "I don't want to waste five years of my life searching across the entire universe for him like _he_ did," the boy spat, glaring at Enigma. 

"What then?" Enigma waved dramatically at the landscape below. "Stay here and waste away until this pathetic world gets destroyed as well? Without Sora we're all doomed." 

The silver haired boy rolled his eyes. "I'm not saying that we do nothing." 

"Then what?"

"Well how about we figure out why this is happening for one?" Riku said. "We find what's behind this and then destroy it."

A corner of Enigma's mouth curled into a sneer. "Yes, of course. It's that simple. Why couldn't I have thought of it before?"

"Stop it," Kairi spoke up. "That's enough!"

She pushed herself away from the railing until she was several feet from them and then straightened. "Let's just get some sleep," she suggested. "We'll call it a day and figure out what to do tomorrow."

Riku stood up and tugged on the sleeves of his jacket. "Fine," he replied, walking past them without a glance back. "See you tomorrow then."

She watched him until he disappeared from sight before turning back to Enigma. He was still leaning against the balcony, ignoring the wind that was starting to make a mess of his hair. 

"What about you?" she asked.

"I'm not tired," he replied, his back still facing her.

Kairi tilted her head and joined him at the railing. "You still need to get some sleep," she chided. "You're really pushing yourself too hard."

"This is how I've survived for the last five years," Enigma said. He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his tangled hair since the wind had died down. "It's not an option to just let myself relax when I want to. Back there in the library… what I did, it was a mistake."

Kairi closed her eyes, struggling to hold back the torrent of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. Clearing her throat, she nodded. "Oh," Kairi managed. She cursed herself as tears suddenly started welling in her eyes. She looked the other way and furiously swiped at the tears. "If that's how you feel…" she said slowly, "Then, let's just forget that it even happened." 

She refused to look at him, knowing that her eyes probably still held traces of her tears. He would probably notice, and just like before, he wouldn't be able to understand. 

"I'm going to bed," she declared, moving away from the railing.

"No," he spoke up, stopping her in mid-stride. "Don't go."

"It's late," she argued.

"You've been up later," he countered.

She felt his arm encircle her waist, pulling her back. Falling against Enigma's chest, she trembled in his hold. Taking in a shuddering breath, she broke away from him, shaking her head furiously. "Don't," she told him. "You don't have the right to do this to me. You can't even make up your mind about me, and I can't stand being toyed with like this."

She expected him to give some poor excuse, a few words in his defence. She didn't expect him to laugh. "You don't get it," Enigma said. He was smiling at her, looking boyish and young. He looked so much like Sora when he stared at her like that.

"What?" she asked. "What don't I get?"

He looked away, focusing on the sky instead. "It was a mistake for me to kiss you when I know that you have feelings for Sora," Enigma replied. Kairi opened her mouth to protest when Enigma glanced sharply at her. "I know you're going to tell me that I _am_ Sora, but what if I'm not? What then? You love him. You've waited five years for him after all, and then I kissed you knowing that you love him. It shouldn't have happened. Now things are complicated. Look at what that kiss led to with Riku and me? What will happen when we finally meet Sora?"

"I…" Kairi shook her head. "I don't know, but isn't it wrong to ignore your feelings simply to keep things less complicated?"

"Well, I really don't know about that," Enigma admitted. "I can't understand my own feelings, much less try to comprehend the feelings of others." 

"Did you mean it when you said you wanted me to stay close to you?" Kairi asked softly.

His expression softened, and he smiled at her again. "Yes. I really do want you to be close to me. That much I can understand." 

Leaning forward, he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. 

Kairi smiled. "I promise to stay close to you."

***

Riku screamed as he hurled the chair across the room. It smashed against the wall, cracking loudly as the wood splintered. Picking up another chair, he smashed it against the ground. The bottom two legs broke off easily. 

The walls were dented, the floor was covered in shattered pieces of glass and wooden chips and every piece of furniture that was too heavy to pick up had been upturned and kicked about the room. He was still fuming, but he was running out of objects to break. He gave the chair a final smash before throwing it against the far wall. 

His eyes scanned the room before they landed on a vase resting on its side on the ground. It'd miraculously survived when Riku had tipped a bookshelf over and sent its contents scattering about the room. Leaping forward, he took the vase and hurled it at the door and watched as it was intercepted by a clawed hand.

The golden tips of Cloud's left hand scratched the glossy surface of the vase. The spiky haired warrior stared at him over the red collar of his cape. "Room not messy enough for you?" he questioned.

Riku scowled at him. "Why are _you_ here?"

Cloud tossed a plastic bag towards Riku. The boy caught it and opened the bag, glancing inside before giving the warrior a confused look. "Clothes?"

"Aerith wanted me to give them to you," he explained. "She thought you might want to wear something cleaner."

"Oh…" Riku said dully. "Thanks."

"She really likes you," Cloud stated. Walking over towards the armchair lying on its side, he righted it and sat. "She has a bad habit of being nice to those who don't deserve her kindness."

Riku glared at him, watching as Cloud tapped a clawed finger against the vase. "Is that supposed to mean something?" 

Cloud "It's just in her nature. Take me for example. I never understood what she saw in me… but she's the most forgiving person I've ever met."

Riku found himself silently agreeing with Cloud's words and even nodded. "Yeah… she is."

"I met her when I was young, in the chapel. I ran in there when I was playing a game with my friends, and there she was at the altar, praying, bathed in light. She was… an angel." His clawed hands stilled as he slowly lowered the vase, resting it against the arm of his seat. "I wanted to know her. So I went up to her and pulled her hair. She didn't cry or scream or shout like other girls did whenever I pulled their hair. She just questioned why I had done it and I told her my reasoning because I couldn't lie to her. After that, she told me that I could have just talked to her. So I did. We talked, and we grew closer and I visited her at the chapel every day afterwards. Sometimes I would buy flowers from her because she loved flowers. She had her own garden and grew them there. The flowers were beautiful, like her…"

Riku was silent as he saw Cloud's story in his mind. He could imagine it, him as Cloud and Kairi as Aerith and buying flowers from her. He frowned at the fantasy and focused his gaze on Cloud, who was staring back at him. His blue eyes seemed to glow in the room's dim lighting. "Nice story," he muttered. "But why am I hearing it?

Cloud stood, his cape falling about his body. "Because when you're dead you remember things more vividly. I remembered every moment I had spent with Aerith when I was down there, and that was my hell. It wasn't the pain they tried inflicting on me, it was the memories and the knowledge that Aerith and I would never be together again, that I would be cursed to relive those memories for the rest of eternity with that knowledge." He walked over towards Riku, roughly taking his hand and giving him the vase. "I'm grateful."

Stepping back, he studied Riku, his eyebrows lowering into a frown. "Take this from someone who's experienced it before," he said. "Don't let that darkness in your heart get to you."

Riku felt his stomach tighten, wondering if the blonde warrior could somehow tell that Ansem was nestling inside his mind. Moving away from Cloud, he nodded. "Right…" he said.

"Not too long ago in Hollow Bastion, there was a boy. This boy was an outsider, and he was usually violent toward what little friends he had. This boy, however, had two people very close to his heart. One was his best friend, and the other was a woman. They both loved her, but the boy's love escalated into an obsession that led to the downfall of this citadel," Cloud told him.

"Why are you telling me this?" Riku asked. 

Cloud turned, heading for the door. "Think about your feelings carefully," he replied. He paused, his hand on the knob. "You can keep the clothes. I have no use for them and… clean up the mess."

He slammed the door, causing the pieces of glass to rattle. Riku looked down at the vase and plastic bag. He set the vase aside and headed for the adjoining lavatory. He changed into Cloud's old clothing, a simple black short-sleeved shirt and a dark green pair of shorts. They were a little loose, but they were good enough. Walking out of the lavatory, he surveyed the mess he'd caused and kicked aside a few pieces of glass. 

He'd clean it later. Now that he'd calmed and expended most of his energy at causing the mess, he no longer felt like doing anything else but sleep. He flicked off the lights and crawled into bed, throwing the covers over him. His exhaustion got the better of him, and he was asleep in minutes.

***

_ There was a gentle wind that felt nice against her bare skin. Kairi opened her eyes, taking in the night sky. There was sand beneath her bare feet, and in the distance there was the familiar roar of the sea she'd grown accustomed to hearing when she had lived on Destiny Islands. It was an almost comforting sound that made her feel at home. She glanced around, hoping to find the familiar buildings and landmarks of the island, but everything around her was unfamiliar. _

She heard sand being crushed by light footfalls behind her and turned, gasping as she saw Sora, silhouetted in the moonlight. He stood on a sandy path, surrounded by a grassy field. Ahead of him were three different paths. He stopped as he came across the junction and glanced from one path to the other. 

Slowly, she approached him. Holding one trembling hand forward, she tried to touch him, but her hand passed through his body. Sora didn't seem to notice her presence. He was staring up at the sky. The cloudy horizon suddenly began to part to reveal the stars it'd once hidden. Moving around him, Kairi stood in front of Sora, frowning as she tried to catch his attention. She waved a hand in front of his face, but Sora just stared past her. 

"Sora?" she whispered his name. 

He didn't answer, but moved forward, straight through her. He stopped as he came close to one of the paths, unable to make his decision as to which road to take. Kairi stared down the road she'd just come from and saw the bright sands of Destiny Islands and its blue sky. She heard faint voices from down that path. They were children's voices, her voice in fact, mixed with Sora and Riku's laughter. 

She turned abruptly and glanced down the other paths. All three of them were completely and utterly dark. 

"What will you choose?" A voice asked from behind. She stared over her shoulder and saw Enigma. She frowned and shook her head. No, that wasn't Enigma. The person standing behind her was dressed like Enigma, but he was older, his features sharper, and underneath his hood were glowing yellow eyes that contrasted sharply against the dark backdrop of the night. She frowned. Even though she was certain that she'd never met him before, there was something about him that gave her the impression that she should know him. 

The hooded figure stepped past her. Just as Sora had done, this man had gone through her. She stepped around his tall frame and saw Sora had noticed the person as well. 

"What is your decision?" the man asked, approaching the boy. 

Sora stepped back, glaring at the hooded figure as he made his slow retreat. They both stopped before the middle path, and Sora glanced warily behind him. He barely had time to react when the hands of the hooded figure shot forward. The man held Sora by the neck, lifting him off the ground. The boy gasped and wheezed as his supply of oxygen was cut off. His face began to grow red, and he kicked at the air, clawing at the man's arms. 

Kairi watched all of this, frozen in horror. This couldn't be real! She screamed, but neither Sora nor the man noticed her. She ran forward, trying to tear the man's hold from Sora's throat, but only found to her frustration that her hands always passed through him. She watched helplessly as Sora's face began growing black. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, his struggling stopped and his hands relaxed, falling to his side s. She backed away, hand held over her mouth as tears streamed down her cheeks. Sobs wracked her body, and she turned away. Her body shook as she fell to her knees. 

A silence fell over the path, and Kairi turned. It was gone. Everything was gone, leaving her alone in a black void. 

***

The door creaked loudly enough to stir Enigma from his dream. He blinked, shaking his head as the last remnants of it melted away. It was a disturbing one, but not much worse than his dreams usually were normal. Taking in a shuddering breath, he brought his eyes towards the door. Kairi's lithe form was leaning against the frame, shaking visibly.

He frowned and sat up. "Kairi?" he said softly.

She tried taking a few more steps and ended up falling forward. She let out a sob as her knees collided painfully against the floor. Enigma scrambled out of bed, running towards her side. "Kairi!" he exclaimed, taking her into his arms and scooping her off the floor. He brought her to the bed and gently laid her down on the mattress.

In the pale light of the moon, he could see that she'd been crying. Her eyes were red, and the trail her tears had taken on her face was all too visible. He got up to switch on a light, but Kairi grabbed his hand, shaking her head. "No!" she whimpered. "Please don't go!"

He nodded and went back to sit beside her on the bed. Taking her hand into his, he leaned forward until his head was resting on top of her chin. "I'm here," he reassured her. 

Slowly, her trembling stopped and she leaned closer to him. "I… had… a dream," she managed to say. 

"It was only a dream," he told her. "Dreams don't mean anything."

"It was so real…" she protested. "I could… feel everything. The wind, the sand, and it was so clear. I could hear the ocean." 

"But it was still a dream," he reminded her. "That's all it was."

She stared up at him, her large blue eyes glinting in the light. "I saw Sora die," she whispered.

Enigma fell silent. He smiled, patting her on the shoulder and holding her closer to him. He listened as she took in deep, laboured breaths. Eventually they became the rhythmic breaths associated with sleep. He couldn't sleep of course, not with her spooned against his side. 

He lay awake as the hours ticked past. Sora was alive, he knew that much, but it was what she had said. Her description matched what he'd experienced in his dream. 

He too had seen Sora die.

He was the one who'd killed him after all.

* * *

So if Enigma has a dreams about murdering our favourite hero, then what does that say about him? I don't really have much to say right now, just that I'm fairly depressed and very stressed out and FFN wouldn't let me update this earlier, but that's life. 

Things begin to pick up again in the next chapter, mainly involving the trio's next destination and how Enigma and Riku are going to interact now that we've had a few eye openers. 

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 

Victorious Light: Hehehe!! That's me being evil again aint it? Ah, well at least I'm glad that the Ansem still being inside Riku thing came as a surprise. ^_^ 

darkkitty: Telling you who Enigma is would ruin the entire plot for you!! Oh and don't stress over what Riku was saying, it's only hint, but I'll be sure to point it out again somewhere down the road. 

Cynthia Chen: Yeah, I totally understand what you mean about being tired from school. Oh and about the pairings... well I admit that I have no problem with yaoi at all, in fact it's nice when it's written properly, but the storyline was plotted this way and Enigma/Kairi's romance will obviously have a huge impact later on in the story. 

VIvi: Hopefully soon. ^_^ Just have patience!! 

Meiko: Oh!! Thank you!! Wow, I feel much happier now, that's a lotta compliments! I don't wanna touch on Enigma/Kairi kiss right now as it'll be elaborated on later, but I'm glad the message I was hoping to convey with it was picked up. Believe me, I'll try to make each chapter better than the one before! 

Koorino Megumi: You caught me on the Albedo one... wait... didn't I tell you that? And you're giving me waaaaay too much credit about the "on stage" metaphor, that actually came from Xenogears... which I seriously recommend you to play now that you've had your fill of Xenosaga. ^_^ 

Ari Powwel: I like that.. "AnsemControlled!Riku" heh!! Oh well, I didn't realize that I made that revelation so obvious, but glad that you were able to pick up on that! Kairi+Riku shipping hmm? I'm gonna have to refrain from talking about that until a different chapter. Just remember to bring it up again. Oh! And I'll be sure to read the update! 

Shinji Ikari: Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean any sort of offence when I made that comment about original characters. I was really just stating my opinion about OC/Established Character pairings. I have rarely come across a fanfic where there was an original character that wasn't a Mary Sue that had a romantic subplot with another main character. I suppose you could say I'm biased in that sort of way, but I've been reading fanfiction for five years and in that five years, I've definitely read quite a few hundred fanfics and I've definitely come across quite a few badly written OC/EC fanfics and I've grown rather sceptical and cynical about original characters. It doesn't mean I hate all fanfics that has original characters as the main characters, take Megumi's fanfic for example, I absolutely adore how she's written Kiru and Iraki and even Aros is a nice rounded character. 

Xenogears/Xenosaga influence:   
-Riku walking into Enigma and Kairi's moment=Krelian listening to Sophia and Lacan   
-Riku's laughing=Albedo's insane laughter   
-Ansem and Riku is similar to a certain character in Xenogears   
-The biggest influence of all: Xenosaga/gears music... try rereading some of the parts with the soundtrack playing. I wrote the first scene between Ansem and Riku while listening to Id's theme (The one who is torn apart or something similar), Kairi and Enigma's scene was written to Elly's theme and then Riku walking in on them would be written to Albedo's theme. 

Oh and about Xenosaga, well I see your point about KOS-MOS, but I'm still not very impressed by her character... yet. I'll have to wait for the next episodes, but for now, that's how I view her. Oh and have you seen the new episode II screens? Wow, KOS-MOS looks more and more like a certain purple haired character in Xenogears everytime I see them. 

I'll eventually get around to rewriting that scene involving Hades and Riku, but until I get an idea as to how to rewrite and to not affect the future chapters, it'll have to remain as it is now. 


	13. Morning Glory

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

** Chapter Thirteen: Morning Glory**

Enigma wondered when it'd begun. When had he become so dependant on another person? Enigma absently pulled up the zipper of his duster and stood in front of the lavatory's mirror, trying to find the answer in his reflection. Readjusting his hood, he turned away from the mirror, no longer able to look at his own reflection for too long without thinking of his "twin". Every time he stared into his own eyes, he saw Sora's blue eyes gazing back at him. There was no denying the uncanny resemblance even if he didn't like how just about everyone he'd come in contact with seemed adamant at pushing an opinion at him. Before, it'd been fine when he rarely came across people who knew Sora, but now it was a flood of people, one after another, each having the same initial reaction every time they saw him--even Kairi…

He glanced into the next room, at the empty bed he'd just recently shared with Kairi. It was an hour ago when she'd left, not before giving him a quick peck on the cheek and reassuring him that she was fine. Enigma didn't believe her reassurances, but since he wasn't sure how to comfort her, he'd let her go. After she'd gone, Enigma had reflected that he should have asked her to stay. He didn't feel very right whenever she was gone. There was an emptiness in his chest that flourished into existence after she left.

He left the lavatory and entered the bedroom. It was painfully empty without her. Lowering himself onto the bed, he sat stiffly, his back straight and his arms folded across his chest. 

There were memories, ones that were so faint and annoyingly vague that he tended to keep them packed away in the back of his mind rather than contemplate their meaning. When Kairi was near, they had a tendency to resurface. They were pockets of blue skies and long sunny days, but, though he didn't know why, in those memories, he'd been happy.

He was forced out of his contemplation when he felt a gaze boring into him. Frowning, Enigma's gaze shot up to the ceiling and immediately found the source. Wedged in a corner with her feet pressed flat against the walls was a girl around his age with short black hair and a green top. She looked mildly surprised that he'd spotted her. Her shock turned into a grin, and she winked at him. She dropped from the ceiling, landing gracefully on her feet.

After striking a dramatic pose, she ran up to him and folded her arms across her chest, grinning in triumph. "Squall's definitely right about you," she declared. "You're the first person asides from him to be able to pick up my presence!"

Enigma gave her a cold look, not sharing her enthusiasm. "Why exactly are you in my room?" 

The girl paused, a blank look on her face as she thought over the question. "Weeeeeell… Aerith's making breakfast, and since you're our guest, she wanted you to be there, too." The girl planted her hands on her hips. "I don't know why she'd want that after you were so rude yesterday."

"Cry me a river," Enigma muttered. He stood and strolled past her. "You can tell her that I won't be joining her. Now get out."

He heard the girl gasp at his brush off, and then she _hmphed_ before running ahead of him and planting herself firmly in his path. He stopped and levelled a scowl at her. The girl was far from being deterred and glared back. "You're so rude!! I mean, here's Aerith, and she's trying to be nice, and you're just brushing her off!"

"I'm well aware of that," Enigma retorted. 

The girl leaned back, frowning, and suddenly let out a small gasp as a mischievous gleam flashed in her eyes. She quickly took on an impassive visage. "You know… Kairi's going to be there, too," she informed him. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't curb the sly twist of her lips. "Same with Riku, too."

Enigma stared at her, very well aware of her game, but he had to admit that the thought of Kairi and Riku being in the same room together without him there didn't sit too well with him. His scowl deepened as he brought a hand to his forehead. "Fine, just fine, I'll go," he said, sighing heavily.

The girl smirked and pumped a fist at her triumph. She let out a, "Score!" before turning and bolting out of the room. Enigma watched her leave and was suddenly struck by a realization. He had no idea where the dining room was located. Sighing, he sat on the bed, hoping that they'd send someone for him.

He waited for fifteen minutes, then another ten minutes, and then gave up, realizing that they wouldn't be sending anyone up to guide him to the dining room. Enigma considered forgetting about joining them for breakfast, knowing that they were probably close to finishing. Still, he wanted to make sure nothing was happening between Kairi and Riku, and the best way to ensure that was to be there himself. 

He left his room after waiting another five minutes and glanced up and down the hall, hoping to find someone who could direct him to the dining room. The hall was empty, and he scowled at the lack of help. Settling on his last resort, he reached out with his senses, hoping to pinpoint Kairi's or even Riku's location. 

_There._

Sure enough they were together, and they were only a few floors below him. Memorizing their location, Enigma headed for the stairs and hurried his way towards them. He stopped when he reached a commercial area that was already busy with crowds of people milling near the stands. He had a hard time making it across the floor. Whereas people would normally try to avoid making contact with him, quite a few of the pedestrians here were bumping right into him, making Enigma growl each time as he was forced back a few steps.

A blonde boy, who appeared human save for his tail, shoved past him. Enigma's scowl deepened, and just as he was about to take a step forward, his mind snapped to a realization, and he whirled around. His hand snaked forward, grabbing the boy's tail. The boy let out a pained howl as Enigma pulled him back and released his tail, grabbing his collar instead.

"My munny," Enigma stated. He lifted the boy off his feet and held out his free hand. "You took it, and I want it back."

The boy scowled at him. "You accusing me of being a thief?" he snapped.

Enigma rolled his eyes and reached into the boy's pockets, pulling out his stolen munny bag. Dropping the boy, he turned and walked away, only to stop once again. He turned and sidestepped. The blonde boy hurled past him, bumping into another pedestrian. He groaned and stood up, glaring at Enigma.

"You were trying to attack me?" Enigma asked, his voice clearly indicating what he thought of the idea of an attack from the boy.

"My tail still hurts from that yanking!" the boy exclaimed, catching the attention of many of the shoppers. There was a sudden grin on his face, and clearly he was enjoying their stares.

"My sincerest apologies," Enigma retorted. "Now start acting your age and live with it."

The boy's grin faded, and he growled, hurling himself forward again. Like before, Enigma easily sidestepped the attack and watched as the boy skidded to a halt, flailing his arms to keep his balance. Rolling his eyes, the hooded warrior brought his hand up and pushed his assailant forward, sending him to the ground.

"Are you going to stop now?" Enigma questioned. His eyes darted about the ring of spectators that had gathered in only a matter of minutes. He fought back a grimace and brought his gaze back to the boy. "Or do you want to further humiliate yourself?"

"Not until you apologize!" the boy exclaimed, puffing out his chest. He pulled out a dagger and scrambled to his feet. There was a slight gasp from the crowd as the boy waved the gleaming blade, showing it off to them.

Enigma, on the other hand, was calm. Being threatened by a weapon was nothing new to him, and he had nothing to fear from the boy. He could see that the thief wasn't ready to use the dagger on him. His hand was trembling, and the hesitant look in his eyes was enough to reassure Enigma that the boy held no real danger to him. 

In one fluid motion, Enigma summoned the Oathkeeper and swung the weapon fast enough that it became a blur. It knocked the dagger from the boy's hand. The boy, along with the crowd, jumped at the quick attack and watched in amazement as Enigma dismissed the keyblade.

The boy dove for his weapon and had his hand on its hilt when a voice spoke above the crowd's murmuring. "That's enough," it commanded.

The crowd parted, and Enigma turned to see Leonhart standing behind the gathering of people. The brown haired warrior approached them calmly, the chains and buckles of his belts rattling noisily with each step he took. He stopped before the boy and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him onto his feet.

"This is your final warning, Zidane," he said as he dropped the boy. "Make another scene like this again, and I won't have any problems with tossing you into the dungeon."

The boy's face soured as he brushed himself off. His eyes scanned the crowd and registered their stares for the first time. Blushing a beat red, he nodded, and Leonhart thumped him on the back. "Now apologize to Enigma," he ordered.

Grumbling incoherently under his breath, Zidane faced Enigma, his eyes on the ground as he mumbled his apology. Giving Leonhart one final, wary glance, the thief turned on his heel and ran. 

"Nothing more to see here. Get going," Leonhart told the crowd, waving his hand dismissively. He turned to face Enigma. Leonhart brought a hand to his forehead, rubbing the scar that ran from there to his left cheek. "I'm not appreciating the fact that you're picking fights with my people."

"The boy was the one who stole from me," Enigma said defensively, not liking how he was being accused.

"Now there's a surprise," Squall muttered dryly, folding his arms across his chest as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other.

"You're here to guide me to the dining room?" Enigma questioned.

"As a matter fact, yes," Squall replied. "Yuffie never did have enough insight to realize that not everyone knows how to get from point A to point B."

"I might as well not go," Enigma said, his old doubts beginning to resurface. "Breakfast is probably over by now."

Leonhart marched forward, offering him only a slight shrug. "That's life," he replied. "But we still need you down in the dining room. There are some items of importance that we need to discuss."

The rest of the trip to the dining room was walked in silence. Leonhart led the way while Enigma followed, his eyes observing the layout of the citadel and committing it to memory for future instances where he might need to know how to reach the dining room. They stopped before a pair of double doors.

"Riku is in there," Leonhart informed him.

Enigma nodded. "I know that," he replied. Beyond the door were a number of pulsating auras. One of them he could identify as Riku's, and sitting next to him was Kairi.

"I don't know who you are or why exactly you're here, and I'm going to be honest and say that I don't trust you, but…" Leonhart cast his eyes towards the door and frowned. "I trust Riku even less." 

"That's nice to know," Enigma said. He wondered if the other felt it, too--the sudden surge of darkness in Riku's aura. Before it'd been a grey light, a little dim, but still light. Now it was tainted, dominated by an evil presence that Enigma couldn't place his finger on. Though there was a great level of animosity between them, Enigma wondered what had brought about the change. "What makes you distrust him?"

"He just reminds me of someone," Leonhart replied. He shook his head. "We'll talk about it later."

He pushed one of the large wooden doors open and held it for Enigma as the boy stepped into the dining room. Everyone from the library and a few new faces were there, and they were all busy, centred around a large table and gorging on a simple breakfast that Aerith had set out.

Squall closed the door, moved towards Rinoa, and seated himself. Every eye on the table had shifted to Enigma now, and he ignored them, walking over towards Kairi instead, who greeted him with a warm smile. Enigma was hesitant to smile back at her, not with this many people watching him, and managed a small one before seating himself in the empty chair beside her. 

Someone had gone out of their way to set out a plate of eggs and toast for him, and he stared at it quizzically and then up at Kairi, who gave him a reassuring smile. His eyes wandered beyond her towards Riku, who stared darkly at him. He held Riku's gaze before Kairi leaned forward, breaking the lock. "Say… Squall?" she spoke up. The brown haired warrior who sat on the other side of the table raised an eyebrow in acknowledgement.

"You said that once Enigma arrived we'd talk about the situation," Kairi reminded him. She gave him a pointed look. 

Leonhart gave her a stare before sweeping his eyes across the others and resting on Rinoa, offering her a questioning look. She shrugged and smiled reassuringly at him. "Might as well," she told him.

"Yes, well I'm sure all of you are well aware of what I want to talk about," Leonhart said. His eyes darted over towards Enigma and Kairi. "Except for you two, but we'll go over the details soon."

"This is about Sephiroth, right?" Riku asked. There was an awkward silence in the room as all eyes suddenly darted towards Cloud, who was sitting between Rinoa and Aerith.

Squall nodded. "Yes… Sephiroth…" he muttered. "Five years of absence and he's back."

"Why is this Sephiroth important?" Enigma questioned. "Who is he?"

"A crazy bastard!" Yuffie exclaimed, shooting out of her chair. She suddenly clamped her mouth shut and glanced furtively in Cloud's direction. The blonde haired warrior glanced the other way.

"Yuffie," Squall said in warning. 

"Sorry!" the ninja exclaimed and promptly plopped back into her seat.

"Sephiroth's a number of things," Cloud said, his clawed hand tightened into a fist. "But he's also supposed to be dead. I killed him five years ago! He's supposed to be dead!" He blinked as he realized that Aerith had reached over and taken his hand. 

"Not like people coming back from the dead is that impossible," Riku muttered.

"That's the issue we need to address," Squall said, nodding his head. "That and also the reason why he's back."

"Someone brought him back," Cloud declared. "There's no possible way for him to make it back on his own. There was an outside force… I saw this happen all the time when I was working with Hades… men and women who journey to the underworld in order to bring their loved ones back by making a deal with the devil." 

Squall nodded, though his gaze drifted over towards Riku, suddenly understanding how his best friend had been brought back from the dead. The boy was very well aware of what the others in the room were thinking and had his head bowed, avoiding their gazes. Kairi seemed to notice his sullen mood and leaned over towards him, resting a hand on his shoulder. 

"So you're implying that someone made a deal with Hades to bring Sephiroth back," Squall mused. He frowned. "That solves the first issue, but what about the second?"

"Well… why not just ask Hades?" Yuffie suggested. "I'm betting he'd tell you!"

"You could, but the information would come with a price," Cloud replied. "Nothing from Hades is ever free."

Riku snorted, catching the attention of everyone in the room. He leaned back in his chair and stared at his hands, refusing to meet their gazes, but the smirk on his face told them that what Riku knew was contrary to what Cloud knew.

"Even if we do decide to ask Hades…" Squall resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "We wouldn't be able to reach him. The Gummi ships have been out of order since the day the barriers had been restored."

Cid thumped a fist against the table, rattling the plates and silverware. "What the HELL??? You forgetting about the fact that I'm the best god damn Gummi mechanic there is Squall?!?!"

The brown haired warrior leaned back against his seat, rubbing his scar. "No, I'm not forgetting about you, Cid," he said through clenched teeth. "If you think that you can fix them, then go ahead."

"Fine!" Cid retorted. "You'll be pissing in your pants when you see the fine work those babies will be in when _I'm_ done!"

"…Whatever," Squall muttered.

"Wouldn't it be faster if Enigma just teleported you guys there?" Kairi asked.

Squall raised an eyebrow. "Teleport?" he questioned. He stared at Enigma. "You can do that?"

Enigma shrugged. "I can," he replied.

"Would you mind?" Aerith asked.

"Of course he wouldn't!" Kairi spoke for him before Enigma could open his mouth. She leaned back, giving him an innocent smile. 

"No… of course not," Enigma replied, shooting her an irritated look.

"Well then… who do we send with Enigma?" Squall asked.

"Aerith won't be going," Cloud declared firmly. "And I won't be leaving her side."

The others nodded in agreement with his decision. They understood his desire to protect Aerith, especially since Sephiroth had return, but they also were aware of the fact that Hades wouldn't take his return to the underworld too kindly.

"I'll go!" Rinoa volunteered.

"No you won't," Squall snapped. "You're staying here."

Rinoa directed a challenging look at him. "Really now?" she questioned. There was a dangerous edge to her voice. "What suddenly gives you the right to dictate my life, Squall?"

Squall gave her a hard look, one that bore no tolerance for defiance. "I'm not going to argue with you, Rinoa. You're staying, and that's final. I won't have you putting your life in danger again."

She scowled as he turned his attention towards the others at the table. "Anyone else willing to go?" 

"Busy with the frickin' ships," Cid replied, moving the straw he was chewing on to the corner of his mouth as he spoke. "Fixin' 'em up is going to take time."

Shifting his gaze down the table, Squall raised an eyebrow. "No one then?"

Yuffie shot up, startling those who were sitting by her. She snapped her fingers, catching the attention of the others who had managed not to notice her abrupt movement. "I'll go!"

Squall frowned as he levelled his gaze at her. His head snapped forward, and he was about to retort a negative and command the girl to sit back in her seat. Yuffie, however, had sprung out of her seat and was pumping a fist into the air.

"I'll get things ready!" she informed everyone and dashed out of the room. 

The door slammed, finalizing her decision. Squall gave Rinoa an impatient look as he heard her chuckling softly. Meeting his gaze with a shrug, she gave him a large grin. "You raised her," she said. "Is it any wonder that she has your stubbornness?" 

"You're not helping," he growled.

Her retort was to stick her tongue out at him before turning to face Aerith and sharing a short giggle with the woman in pink. Squall brought a hand to his scar and, out of habit, began rubbing it to alleviate the oncoming headache.

Kairi found herself smiling as she watched Squall deal with Rinoa. Despite the fact that they'd just had a slight falling out, they'd somehow mended the rift in a matter of minutes without even uttering an apology. She chanced a side-ways glance at Enigma, who was sitting stiffly in his seat, wearing his usual emotionless mask. He noticed her stares and frowned slightly. There was a crack in his mask, and she could see a conflict of two emotions as he blinked multiple times. Finally his visage relaxed, and he offered her a slight smile. She smiled back, and suddenly an idea came to mind as she turned back to gaze at Squall.

"We'll go, too!"

Squall brought his hand away from his scar and gave her a doubtful look. "You three?" 

Kairi glanced hesitantly at Riku and Enigma. While there was a slight crease to Enigma's brow, he gave no indication of not wanting to go. Riku, on the other hand, was frowning and giving her an odd look.

"…Yes. All three of us, Enigma's going to be needed to open the portal anyway, right? And Riku and I could help him."

Riku shook his head as he leaned back in his seat. "I don't think I should be going," he announced. "After what happened last time, I don't think Hades would take another visit from me too warmly." Beside him, Kairi stared at him in shock. Riku refused to meet her eyes.

Across the table, Cloud shifted in his seat and met Riku's gaze. "It would be best for you to go," he said. "You managed before to…_convince_ him to let me go."

Riku appeared apprehensive as he considered the warrior's words. There was a slight pressure on his mind as a certain presence made itself known, urging him to go. 

"You don't have to go."

Riku turned to stare at Enigma. "What?" 

"You can stay here," Enigma said. "Kairi and I can go, and we'll handle the situation. We'll manage without you."

Riku bristled at Enigma's words, and he scowled. Turning away from the hooded warrior, he caught Leonhart's attention. "I'm going," he declared.

Squall slowly nodded as he assessed the trio and finally came to a conclusion. "Then it's settled. You three can leave whenever you're ready, and all of Hollow Bastion's resources are yours."

"And thank you for your help, too," Aerith spoke up. "We really do appreciate what you're doing."

"It's not a problem," Kairi said, giving Aerith a wide grin.

"Well then… let's get the three of you ready," Rinoa suggested. She stood and turned to face Squall. "And you better talk to Yuffie, convince her to stay." 

Squall nodded at her. "Right… Enigma, Kairi, Riku, I'll speak with you three later. Wait in the library after you're done." 

"All right," Kairi said and watched as Squall turned and left the dining room. 

Cid snorted as he strolled past them. "I can't believe we're depending on a buncha kids," he muttered loudly enough for them to hear.

"Cid!" Aerith rebuked. 

The older man shrugged. "What?" he asked. "Just stating an opinion. Got a problem with that?"

"That's not how you speak to a guest," Aerith scolded.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, don't give me that crap," Cid retorted and paused before he glanced down at the trio. "Uh, thanks."

"No problem," Kairi said, grinning up at the older man. 

"Snotty little kids," Cid mumbled as he sauntered out of the room. It was only a matter of minutes before the room emptied and only Rinoa, Cloud, Aerith and the trio remained. 

"Well then," Rinoa said, clasping her hands together. "An afternoon to ourselves."

"What now?" Kairi asked.

Rinoa gave Kairi a sly look. "Let's go shopping."

* * *

Argh... slooooow updates, but I'm happy to finally get this chapter out. I was planning on updating sooner, but I was focusing on other... stuff. Yeah, mainly I just finished a big arse test and I've also been focusing some time on this Kingdom Hearts fanfiction archive I've been working on with Koorino Megumi. Haha, yes, shameless plugging, you guys can find the URL to the fanfiction archive in my profile and those of you who have KH fics should submit them! I'd be happy to receive fanfics from you guys. Ooooh and another thing, Megumi and I've started a KH fanfic mailing list... so sign up!!

Okay, shameless plugging aside, I have no real comment about this chapter. It's chock full of FF character cameos and this was bound to happen sometime sooner or later. Hope you guys enjoyed it, next chapter has our favourite trio making a startling discovery, good or bad? Who knows... well I do, but you guys can guess! 

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 

Ari Powwel: Ehehehe... *sweatdrops* I guess it's time to confess that I don't proof read my author's notes and that embarrassing typo just shows it. Wow, so I'm not the only one who stays up late to read fanfics. Oh don't worry about what I said about Hades and Riku, that was just in reply to another reviewer. 

choas-x: Hmmm big Xenosaga fan I see. ^_^ No, I do like Xenosaga, I just don't like it as much as Xenogears. Xenosaga would be one of the better RPGs out there, but I just wasn't all too impressed with the characterization, but I suppose I shouldn't really make comments like that until I've played through the entire series, but you can see the problem with that. Anyway, enough Xenosaga talk. I'm glad you were surprised about the Riku and Ansem revelatin. 

ElfGoddess: Well... I dunno about punching them in the face. Riku seems a little too sweet and more polite than that... but I suppose laughing insanely isn't something he'd do anyway. So was it Ansem or Riku? Well... you could say it was a combination of both, but Riku's laughter was heavily influenced by Ansem, not that I was expecting a lot of people to figure that out. ^_^ 

Meiko: Yep, yep, the dream was definitely interesting to write. Especially when Kairi and Enigma have the same dream, though I have to admit that the entire sequence was just filled with doofy symbolism. 

Koorino Megumi: Well you know I try to make things mysterious especially for you. =P 

Refugee: Thank you! I try to keep characterization in mind when I write. 

Victorious Light: Well you should know that I can't answer that! You can decide whether or not Enigma's a killer hehehe... well decide until I reveal whether or not that's true. *is evil* 

Bunni: Wow! Another Riku fan! I'm glad I'm not disappointing you guys with Riku's characterization since lately he's decided to be iffy on me. 

Yutaan: Now why would you think I wouldn't reply to your review? I appreciate the fact that you took time to comment on my fic so I take my time to reply. Hmmm, you make an intersting point about Kairi, I actually share your view, I see her as a kind and caring person and no, she doesn't fall for everyone!! That would make some pretty odd triangles... as if the one between her and Sora and Riku aren't odd enough! And you reviewed three times too! Wow!! 

Now as for some of your theories, really, don't worry about what you post, I make tons of theories all the time in other stories, some of them don't hold water while other times I make pretty good guesses. Yours right now are really based on observations and facts that you've found in this fic, the game and other sources so you're already doing a great job. 

I don't think I need to keep it too much of a secret, but I can give you a 67% guarantee that THE VOICE in Riku's head and THE VOICE in Sephy's head aren't the same. 

I get what you're trying to say about Enigma being Sora's Non-Existent... I call them Non-Existent Ones... well actually you can see that by the summary I have at the beginning in of every chapter. 

You're actually making perfect sense about Sora's whereabouts when he'd lost his heart. I just really can't verify things too much. 

And I LOVE your analysis on Enigma's personality! You're almost getting there too. Enigma really only has five years of experience and though he thinks as an adult would, his reactions are based on how he was taught to react. He prefers to see everything with calculated logic and such because he knows quite a few things about the cosmos and what to expect. 

Hehe, you're not the only one who saw a potential relationship between KOS-MOS and chaos, I'd almost support them too, but the fact that KOS-MOS is an android still gets to me. I've done some thinking about her character, and I've decided that I do like KOS-MOS a little more, but I don't like the fanboyism revolving around her... really, I let myself be influenced by the fanboys just a little too much. Anyway, I've read theories about the REAL KOS-MOS and chaos getting together. ^_^ 

And wow, you actually know how many fics you've read? I don't even know how many I've read, probably surpassing the thousands by now. Thank you so much for that compliment! 

Shinji Ikari: Hmm... well I took my time before I started to respond to your review. I want to apologize in advance if this comes out a little negative, but bear with me, I've been having a very, very, very bad week. I don't want to go into details about really bad it's been, but your review really hasn't done anything to help my mood. So please, know that I don't really mean to be negative. 

I'd like to first state that I appreciate your reviews, I really do. Your insight has made me consider different elements of Kingdom Hearts that had never crossed my mind before. Though lately, I've started to become a little... well you could say agitated with your reviews, mainly because half of your review is really about nitpicking my author's notes. I don't want to sound like those authors who go into a rant everytime they receive one little review with negative criticism, but I really find it unfair that you believe I should be careful about offending certain readers, mainly you, when you write a half page long reviews that offends me. 

As for the Xenogears/Xenosaga influence. You seem to take it as if I'd ripped it right from the games, when I say INFLUENCE I meant that when I was writing those scenes, I had certain scenes from Xenogears/Xenosaga in my mind during the time. You were the one who asked for them and I gave them to you.

Please don't worry about my making comparisons between your story and Xenosaga/Xenogears, most of my past comments were sparked from the fact that I'd just finished playing the two games and they were still on my mind. That aside, I can reassure you that any further comparisons with Xenosaga/Xenogears should not be taken seriously.

On Mary Sues: Your definition of a Mary Sue and mine are worlds apart. The general concensus of a Mary Sue is a character that's an obvious author insert that takes centre stage of the fic and dominates over the main characters of the fandom that the author's writing for. Adding to the list of how Mary Sue-ish an original character can be is that they are related to a certain main character and falls in love with another. I have seen many, many fics that have original characters that are like this and I have just grown cynical towards any fic that has an original character that fits the one or two of those qualities, that is why I worry over some of my own original characters being Mary Sues/Gary Stus because they have a few of the above mentioned attributes.

Moving along from that... Riku has yet to really figure out his feelings, especially towards Kairi, add the fact that Ansem's running around in his mind and the fact that he's feeling more of an outsider because of how Kairi and Enigma are obviously falling for each other. He's battling with a lot of negativity right now and his comment over finding Sora was just to provoke Enigma.

On Spehiroth: Yes, I was afraid of that I'd might make myself seem like a Sephiroth fangirl for giving him a bigger role in this fic than I'd intended for most Final Fantasy characters. Cloud and Sephiroth have a history, and to Cloud, Sephiroth is dangerous and he over exaggerates when he's talking about Sephiroth.

You have an interesting interpretation of the dream sequence and pretty much the closest of most of the people who've guessed on what's it supposed to mean. And thank you for the compliments on the other scenes, I appreciate them of course.


	14. Faint Echoes

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

** Chapter Fourteen: Faint Echoes**

Enigma found himself in that familiar shopping district he'd ventured into earlier that morning. Many of the shopkeepers recognized him easily and kept a wary eye on him as he browsed through their selections. Knowing that he was being watched, Enigma did the only thing he knew to do when being judged prematurely: he ignored them. 

Kairi and Rinoa were having a blast being able to buy whatever they wanted without having a limit on what they could spend. Both of the girls chatted away happily as they selected various garments that Enigma knew they would never be wearing on the trip. Such activities as clothes shopping were lost on both Enigma and Riku, and the two boys hovered in the background, standing as far away from each other as possible.

Staring at the silver haired boy out of the corner of his eye, Enigma watched as Riku stood in front of a stand that had an assortment of weapons on display. At the moment he was holding up a curved dagger with a simple black handle.

_"I trust Riku even less." _

Enigma hadn't noticed it before, but Leonhart's words had made him more alert around Riku, and now he was starting to sense it. There was a dark cloud hovering over the boy, darkening the light aura around him and threatening to consume his soul. It'd been there before, but not to such a large extent. Enigma had paid it no mind when he had noticed it the first time. Every person had darkness in his or her heart, some moreso than others. He'd been aware of Riku's history and simply dismissed it. Since their separation, however, the darkness had started growing at an alarming rate. 

"Enigma, what do you think of this?" Kairi asked, holding up a blue jacket for him to see. 

"It's fine," he replied, giving her his full attention.

Kairi smirked. "You don't like it, huh?"

"I never said that."

Kairi shrugged and threw the garment back on the stand. "I guess Rinoa and I've been torturing you with our shopping haven't we?"

"Torture?" Enigma repeated. He saw her raise an eyebrow and relented. "It has been rather boring." 

"How about we do what you want then?" she asked. "I'm sure there's something you want to buy."

"Provisions, food for the journey, and some medical supplies _would_ be nice," he said, smiling slightly.

"Oooh right… forgot about those things," Kairi said with a large grin.

Rinoa came to join them, her hands weighted down with shopping bags. "So, where to next?" she asked.

"A potion shop maybe?" Kairi suggested.

The girl in blue nodded. Shifting the bags into one hand, she gestured down the hall. "I think there's one over there. I'm not sure. I haven't been to one in a while."

"Let's go then!" Kairi turned to Enigma with a mischievous look on her face. "Race ya!" 

She ran off, weaving her way through the busy patrons and bumping into a few of them when she wasn't careful. Enigma stared after her with a smirk on his face. Beside him, Rinoa chuckled softly, catching his attention. He turned to her, having enough grace to look confused. 

"What's so funny?" 

"Nothing," she answered and caught Enigma's sceptical expression. "Well okay, the two of you are just cute."

Cute. Enigma grimaced. There was a word he didn't like hearing, especially when it was being used to describe him. Rinoa saw his expression and gave him a playful look. She then glanced about the crowd, her eyes roving about the crowd. Her gaze settled on Riku, who was still at the weapons stand, holding another stylized dagger.

"Riku!" she shouted.

Riku was so startled that he nearly dropped the dagger. Turning back, Riku saw Rinoa waving her arm. The boy nodded briefly when she beckoned to him. Handing the dagger back to the vendor, he went to join them. Enigma's gaze settled on the bag he was holding before Enigma stepped away as Riku came to a stop a few feet from them. 

"Where's Kairi?" he asked, his grip on the bag tightening.

"She ran off," Rinoa replied, throwing Enigma a smirk. "We'd better join her before she gets impatient."

"You let her run off on her own?" Riku's voice became concerned. Shoving past the two, he walked briskly through the crowd. 

"Oh, come on, Riku, girls hate it when you get overprotective!" Rinoa shouted as she followed the boy.

Enigma made his way through the masses of shoppers, keeping a careful eye on the girl in blue. Crowds were the reason why he hated shopping--crowds and annoying vendors. He shoved past a trio of girls who were blocking his path and ignored their protests. Suddenly he stopped, taking in a sharp breath, his eyes widening as he felt an icy hand twist his heart. The trio of girls he'd past shoved back at him in return, forcing him to take a few steps forward to regain his balance. He was too caught up in the disturbing feeling in his chest to glare at them.

Turning on his heel, he walked hurriedly in the direction he'd just come. He had no idea where he was headed, but there was something in the back of his mind that was pushing him forward, telling him which direction to the turn. Someone shouted after him, no doubt Rinoa. He ignored her cries and continued walking, shoving past shoppers and nearly walking into a stand. 

He came to a halt at the end of the hall, right in front of a door. There was nothing remarkable about it. It was just one of the many doors in a corridor meant to be used as a residential area. The shards of ice in Enigma's heart twisted, however, sending shivers down his spine. He steadied his hand and tried the knob only to discover that the door was locked. 

Staring at the knob, Enigma frowned. There was something behind that door, and he needed to get to it. Summoning the Oathkeeper, he swiped at the door. The knob clattered to the ground in two pieces . Someone behind him gasped, and he turned to see that he'd gathered a crowd of spectators. He glared at them, and that sent the onlookers scattering.

He barged into the room and felt a gust of wind sweep out of the open door. Enigma took a step back as he caught sight of the glowing portal hovering near the ceiling, energy spewing from its centre. He was standing in a bedroom, and on the floor, trembling before a pair of Unknown, was a woman. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Enigma, only to widen in horror as she saw his outfit. She let out a small scream and crawled back, bumping into the two behind her. 

Enigma stared quizzically at the two hooded warriors, and the Kingdom Key appeared in his free hand. The two advanced, lifting their hands as they began glowing with energy. Enigma dove forward as arcs of blue lightning lanced across the spot he'd been moments before. He rolled on the floor, coming to a halt in front of the two Unknown and brought his foot forward, hooked it beneath the ankles of the first Unknown. Enigma brought that one crashing to the ground. Holding up the Oathkeeper, he muttered the words of a Blizzaga spell and watched as the Unknown on the floor was encased in ice. He scrambled to his feet and was thrown forward as blue lightning caught him in the back.

His teeth came down on his bottom lip, interrupting the scream that was threatening to make itself heard. Pain. He'd felt worse before, but his body didn't care for that fact. He twisted around and flung the Kingdom Key up. It trembled as it caught the blue energy and quickly grew scalding hot. Even his gloves couldn't protect him from the burning touch. Enigma flung the keyblade aside and ran to the other side of the room. The second Unknown followed his movements, bringing its hands up for a second round of attacks .

Enigma didn't give him that chance. The boy ran forward, kicking the Unknown in the chest and sending it flying into the wall. The Unknown slid to a sitting position, its head hung forward in unconsciousness. With the two Unknown down, Enigma allowed himself to visibly relax and winced as the skin on his back stretched. His head snapped to the right when he heard a slight whimpering, but saw that it was only the woman, who was staring at him wide-eyed.

"Are you injured?" he asked.

The woman swallowed and shook her head. "N-no…" she stammered.

He sighed and limped over towards the Kingdom Key that lay idle on the ground. He reached forward, tentatively placing a hand on the hilt. His grip around it tightened after a few seconds without being burnt, and he dismissed both keyblades before staring warily at the fallen Unknown. 

"What happened?" he demanded.

"I… I was just in my room and getting ready to go out when _that_," she said and pointed up at the portal. "Opened up and they dropped in and tried to attack me."

Enigma took in her story, mulling over her words, and stared up at the ceiling. He held a hand towards the portal and concentrated. The vortex began closing. He stared at the two Unknown and began envisioning portals opening beneath them and swallowing them. Small rifts opened beneath the two hooded beings. The two Unknown tumbled into the dark world behind the rifts, and the portals closed. Enigma let out a sigh and stared down at the woman. 

"Will you be all right?"

She nodded numbly, and Enigma turned, slowly making his way out of the room. His back was in unbelievable pain, and it'd take at least a day before it would heal up. He briefly considered casting a Curaga spell on himself, but healing spells often did very little for him. They closed open wounds, but no Cure spell could banish pain, and Enigma had no open wounds. He was just in pain.

"Enigma?"

He saw Rinoa hurrying through the crowds and making her way towards him. She stopped in front of him, her face full of concern. "Oh! Enigma! What in the world happened!?" she exclaimed.

"Nothing," he lied and straightened. The mask he wore easily concealed his pain. He was glad at how easy it'd become to slip on an emotionless façade. 

Rinoa's expression became grim as she placed a tentative hand on his shoulder, and that mask he wore shattered as he winced. She shook her head. "You can't just say, 'nothing' when obviously it's not nothing," she said. "I know what you're trying to do, but if something happened here, in Hollow Bastion, then I or at least Squall needs to know. This is our home, and we need to make sure nothing like whatever happened to you happens to someone else."

Enigma grimaced and shrugged her hand off his shoulder. "I don't want to talk about it right now," he told her and headed in the direction of the potion shop. Rinoa stared after him, frowning slightly, but finally she followed him, promising herself that she'd tell Squall of the strange incident.

Enigma arrived at the potion shop, which was really a renovated bedroom with shelves filled with items. He found Kairi carrying an armload of potions and Riku standing behind her, holding another load. She noticed his arrival immediately and smiled before returning to browsing through the shelves and taking anything she thought would come in handy. Riku still stared at him with a slight frown. Enigma made an effort not to limp as he approached them and ignored Riku when the boy's frown deepened. 

"Done yet?" he asked once he was beside Kairi.

"Nearly," Kairi replied and handed him her items. "All we need now are a few elixirs, and then we can go."

She turned to face him, and her eyes widened in horror as she took in his dishevelled state. Seeing Kairi's reaction, Enigma wondered if he looked as bad as he felt. 

"What happened!?" she exclaimed and stepped closer to him. 

"He won't say," Rinoa said, stepping into the store in time to hear Kairi's question. 

Rinoa gave Kairi a sympathetic look, knowing how irritating it was to have a love interest who tried to keep his pain to himself. Kairi's eyes examined Enigma from head to toe, and even though Enigma was a master at hiding what he felt, she could easily tell that he was in pain. She held her hands forward as if clutching an invisible ball, and a green light formed between them. 

"Don't waste your magic," Enigma said quickly before she could utter the words that would cast the Cure spell. "Cure won't work."

"But…" Kairi began and stopped. The light faded, and she dropped her hands to her sides in defeat. 

"What happened to you?" Riku spoke up, stepping forward. 

Enigma looked at him in slight surprise. There was genuine concern in his voice. He studied the silver haired boy's face and saw his worried expression. Riku raised an eyebrow at his stare, and Enigma averted his gaze, focusing instead on Kairi, who had her hands clenched.

"I was attacked," he replied blandly. "I took care of them, but I was clumsy, and I'm paying the price for it."

Kairi studied his face and frowned. Enigma could feel her eyes scanning his entire body, taking in his stance and coming to a conclusion about his state. 

"You're hiding something," she declared.

"It's not important," Enigma snapped. He saw the hurt expression on her face and regretted his harsh words. "I… don't want to talk about it right now."

She nodded, giving him a sympathetic look, and took hold of his arm. "Then let's get you fixed up… I'm sure there's something we can do." 

"I think I can handle that," Rinoa said. "Go to the library, and I'll meet you guys there in a moment." Nodding at the trio, Rinoa turned and headed out of the store.

There was a silence as the three exchanged meaningful looks, but finally Riku voiced the question that was on all of their minds. "Does anybody know where the library is?"

***

Considering how lost Enigma had ended up before, he'd assumed finding their way to the library would have taken longer. It was because of Kairi that they wandered around for an hour. Unlike Enigma, she had no qualms about asking for directions. 

Rinoa was already there, standing on the upper level near a table, and speaking softly with Aerith when they entered. The two women turned at their entrance and greeted them with warm smiles. Aerith's eyes lingered on Riku before she turned her attention to Enigma and studied him. She was amused at the hard stare he returned. 

"Please, sit down," she said, gesturing towards a nearby chair. Enigma seemed hesitant to comply, but sat down, leaning forward so his back didn't touch the chair.

"Where's Squall?" Kairi asked after she had scanned the library and noticed his absence.

"Busy with a few things," Rinoa replied. "He'll be here in a moment. In the meantime… why don't we go about healing your injuries?" She stared at Enigma, who frowned at her. 

"I said before that Cure spells won't work," Enigma said tersely. 

"There are more healing spells out there than just basic Cure spells," Aerith replied. "For example… Full Cure."

There was a doubtful expression on his face as he stared at Aerith, his eyes focusing on her swollen belly. "I don't think that someone in your condition should be casting any sort of magic, especially such a high level white magic spell."

Kairi frowned at his words, not fully understanding how magic worked. She only knew the most basic spells and those she had learned from her brief time spent with Aerith. She'd been waiting with Aerith and the others as Sora and his companions had gone off to defeat Ansem. Squall, never the type to just sit around and wait, had them hunting Heartless, and she'd been taught a few elemental spells to give aid in the hunts. They were crash courses taught only a few hours before they'd head out.

Aerith noticed her frown and placed a hand on her stomach. "It's because magic uses a part of your life force," she explained. "That's the reason why you feel tired or exhausted after you perform a spell. Higher-level spells take more energy. Performing magic in my…'condition' is a risk to the baby."

"Oh…" Kairi said, blushing furiously. It made sense when she put it that way, though Kairi wondered why she had never considered that before. 

"Then why did you bring up Full Cure when no one can cast it?" Riku asked. 

"I'll be doing the casting," Rinoa said with a smile on her face. "Aerith explained the entire process to me before you guys came."

Riku stared at her as if she'd just sprouted an extra head. He blinked and then looked at her sceptically. "You can't just cast a high level spell like that after only learning about it in a few minutes!"

Rinoa smirked and approached Enigma, walking around him until she was behind his chair. The hooded boy gave her a wary look, and she winked at him. "Don't worry, I've done last minute learning like this plenty of times before," she reassured him. 

She held her hands above Enigma's back and closed her eyes, her brow scrunched as she focused on the power that flowed in her. It was a whirling vortex of energy and reacted with a brilliant flare when she summoned it. She took that power, shaping it into healing magic, and felt her hands warming. She knew from experience that they were glowing. The energy began building, waiting for the words that would release it .

Opening her eyes, Rinoa saw the stunned faces that were staring at her. "Full Cure!" she exclaimed. The magic burst forward and surrounded Enigma in a bubble of light, shimmering as it faded away.

Enigma straightened, blinking as he gingerly reached a hand towards his back, touched it and felt no stinging hot pain. He stared at Rinoa and gave her a nod of appreciation. She smirked at him and leaned forward, resting on the back of the chair. "That really takes a lot out of you," she said. 

"How in the world were you able to do that?" Riku asked. "No one should be able to perform spells like that in just a day."

"Like you pointed out before, I'm not normal," Rinoa replied.

"She's a sorceress," Enigma muttered. "A breed of women who are adept at performing spells that others normally can't."

Riku stared at Rinoa, slightly surprised. The only other sorceress he knew was Maleficent, and he just couldn't equate Rinoa with such a vile woman. Maleficent had explained magic to him and how it worked and what she was, but from the account she'd given on sorcery, he'd assumed that all sorceresses were just like her, only Rinoa was nothing like Maleficent. He stared at Rinoa again and suddenly smiled. She was startled by his reaction, but smiled back. 

"Just don't announce that fact to the entire world," came Squall's voice, floating into the upper levels. Rinoa brightened as she heard his voice, and she rushed over to the railing. 

"Took you long enough, slowpoke," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. 

Squall rolled his eyes as he climbed the stairs and joined her by the railing, casting a stern look at all of them. "I'm serious about keeping this confidential," he told them. 

"We won't tell anyone," Kairi reassured. 

Squall didn't seem to believe her but apparently decided not to dwell on the topic. His eyes landed on Enigma, who was staring blankly at the floor. The boy felt his eyes on him and looked up. "There was a report from an area in the commercial district about a hooded boy with dual keyblades fighting with two other hooded men. Strange coincidence, isn't it?" 

"Yes, that was me," Enigma said. "They were… attacking a woman, and I was there." 

"Is that the reason why you ran off like that?" Rinoa asked. 

Enigma nodded and got out of his chair. He moved towards a shelf, distancing himself from the others. "I felt their presence and instinct told me to investigate." He frowned at the memory of finding a woman at the mercy of the two hooded beings. 

"I get this feeling that you know more about what's going on than I do," Squall said, bringing a hand to his forehead. "Care to explain?" 

"The hooded men who attacked the woman are called Unknown, but aside from that, I don't know any more than you do," Enigma retorted. 

"Never mind…" Squall said, sighing heavily. He folded his hands across his chest. "I came here to discuss other matters anyway. Like Sephiroth." 

"You never did tell us who he was," Kairi pointed out. 

Squall nodded. "Yes, Sephiroth's past is complicated." He paused and turned to Aerith, who had seated herself on the table. She smiled at him, putting on a brave front. 

"They deserve to know," she said softly. 

"You should tell them," Squall said. His tone was gentle, which had the trio staring at him in confusion.

She considered his words and cast a forlorn look towards the others. The memories surfaced, and she braced herself as she thought of the recent atrocity Sephiroth had committed. She should have hated him, but it was because of her that he was now like this--a monster.

"Sephiroth lived here, in Hollow Bastion, years ago," she said as she recounted a past she would have preferred to keep buried. "He was a childhood friend to all of us, though he and Cloud knew each other the longest. They were best friends, brothers even, and neighbours. Their parents were close, so naturally they grew up together. Sephiroth protected Cloud against the bullies and taught him everything he knew, and Cloud looked up to him."

She paused to place her hands on her stomach. She couldn't think of the baby without being reminded of the love she had for Cloud. Aerith wondered briefly if her child would grow up having a friend who was as loving as Sephiroth had been to Cloud before Sephiroth had become so twisted. "We were all skilled in magic because of the way we were brought up, but Sephiroth was different. He had power far greater than even Rinoa's. It was in his blood. Around the time he was realizing his potential, Cloud and I met, and Cloud introduced me to his friends. Sephiroth, Cloud and I, we became a trio of close friends, and as we grew up, things became different. Cloud and Sephiroth had developed a rivalry, and I was in the middle."

Kairi shifted uncomfortably as Aerith's story started becoming all too familiar to her. She cast furtive glances towards Riku and Enigma. They were both wearing unreadable masks. 

"It wasn't long before the boys began developing feelings for me. Cloud was shy and never really made it too clear how he felt." There was a slight smile on her face as remembered Cloud's shy disposition. "Sephiroth, on the other hand, wasn't, and we… began seeing each other for a while. I wasn't as happy with him as I was with Cloud, and I admitted it, and that was when he snapped. He disappeared for a while, and every time he returned he was even more twisted than before. He spoke to me once and admitted that he'd been meeting with Maleficent. He disappeared again, and one day he came back, leading an army of Heartless. We tried fighting back, but the Heartless overwhelmed us, and we ended up fleeing. Many didn't make it, and many of us were separated."

Aerith folded her hands in her lap and looked at Rinoa, who smiled brightly at her. There was only the slightest sliver of sadness in the sorceress' expression. Squall's was the direct opposite of Rinoa's . He was frowning as Aerith's recount brought back unwanted memories. He didn't bother to look any less stern as he addressed the trio.

"Do you have questions?" 

Enigma was leaning against a shelf, and he pushed himself away from it and straightened. "How did Sephiroth die?" 

"Cloud and Sephiroth met about five years ago and fought," Squall replied. "It's obvious who won and who died."

Enigma nodded slowly, satisfied with the answer. He turned away from Squall and stared at his other two companions. Kairi had a troubled expression on her face while Riku was shifting his gaze between Aerith and Kairi and giving them both unreadable looks.

"Any more?" Squall asked.

The silence that followed was answer enough for Squall. He nodded curtly and squeezed Rinoa's hand before moving away. "If that's all, then I need to leave. I have other matters to attend to," he announced and left the library through the upper level exit. Everyone's gaze followed him until he'd closed the door.

"Why is it that Squall's always so busy?" Kairi asked, directing her question to Rinoa.

Rinoa stared at the door Squall had just exited through with an amused look. "Squall's the leader of Hollow Bastion," she replied. "He took up the responsibility of taking care of this place once he returned, and the people just accepted him."

"He won't admit it, but he really does care for all of us, and having a leader who actually cares for his people is a refreshing change," Aerith said, her mood turning into a brighter one. "We had an election a while ago, and he was selected."

Rinoa chuckled softly, remembering Squall's look of shock on the day the results were compiled. Shaking her head, she smiled. "I guess you guys should rest before going." Her eyes landed on Enigma, and by the look on his face, the boy knew what she was implying.

"I'd rather not delay this," Enigma said, giving her a sour look.

Rinoa raised an eyebrow and waited for the other two to protest. Both of them remained silent, Kairi merely shrugging when Rinoa threw her a questioning look and Riku seeming disinterested. Rinoa pushed away from the railing. "Then I guess I'll show you guys the 'door'." 

Enigma shook his head, stopping the girl in blue in mid-stride. "That won't be necessary. I don't normally use doors. Portals are more convenient." There was a momentary flash of light, and Enigma's right hand was gripping a keyblade. There was a crackle of energy on his keyblade that leapt forward, ripping through space and forming a multicoloured crack. 

Enigma glanced in Kairi and Riku's direction, and they both understood immediately. Riku stepped forward and gave Aerith and Rinoa warm smiles. He walked through the crack, disappearing behind it. Kairi was more hesitant. She stopped before its maw and looked over towards Aerith and Rinoa. The girls shared a short laugh, and Kairi stepped forward. Enigma moved towards the crack and stopped, giving the girls a curt nod, and disappeared into the next world. Once he was gone, the portal squeezed shut, leaving behind no trace of its existence.

***

"Now that we're alone, care to explain what you're hiding from us?" 

Riku's question stopped Enigma in his tracks. "Pardon?" 

The silver haired boy folded his arms across his chest. "I know that you weren't telling us the whole truth back there."

Riku was giving him an accusing look, but it wasn't one Enigma had expected from him. The boy seemed almost friendly, as if teasing him. Kairi seemed to notice Riku's change in mood as well and suddenly wore a playful smirk. 

"Come on, you know you can't hide anything from us," she taunted.

Enigma was first torn between lying to them despite knowing that they would probably call him on it and simply ignoring them. Ignoring them would have resulted in more pestering, and since they were entering Hades' domain, he would rather they travelled as stealthily as possible. So he chose the only option that he hadn't been considering. He would tell them the truth. 

"The people that attacked, they were Unknown."

Riku shrugged, not fully understanding Enigma's words. "Yeah? So? They attacked us before."

"That was different," Enigma said, frowning. "Unknown simply don't enter into different worlds and attack people. They attacked you because you were a trespasser. That's their duty."

"Why would they just attack a random person?" Kairi asked.

"Unknown only become wild like this when…" Enigma paused as he tried to recall a similar case. "When there's a misbalance."

He knew from their puzzled expressions that neither of the two understood what he meant. "The universe can be defined as both light and dark. Normally there's a balance between these two. When there's a balance, the Unknown are neither light nor dark. They have no inherited sense of good or bad and only know what is programmed into them."

"So the two Unknown back in Hollow Bastion couldn't have just attacked because they wanted to?" Riku asked.

Enigma shook his head. "Unknown are simply… shells that go about performing what they are intended to do: creating balance and ensuring that no one uses the World in Between. If one force, either light or dark rises, then they usually oppose it. Considering how darkness is amassing, they should be on a different side."

"Couldn't there have been something wrong with the girl?" Kairi asked. 

"No, I would have sensed it," Enigma replied. "Not only that, but they also attacked me. Unknown never attack their own kind."

Noticing the look Kairi was giving Riku, Enigma knew what was going on in her mind. "Riku's different." Enigma grew silent and continued walking forward, no longer in the mood for explanations.

Kairi appeared puzzled at his words, but accepted them without any further questioning. She followed him as he descended the stairs, wrapping her arms around her and shuddering at the gloomy atmosphere of the place. "Brr…" she said, shivering. "This place is just too creepy."

Beside her, Riku smirked. "What would you expect in a place like this? Puppy dogs and rainbows?"

"No! I just didn't think it'd be this scary," Kairi said, laughing nervously. Her laughter died on her lips as she caught sight of the glowing river of the dead. She gasped and stopped, causing Riku to bump into her and nearly knock her off-balance. Riku grabbed her arm before she could tumble forward and steadied her.

"I know…" Riku murmured, wincing as he remembered his submergence in the river. "This is what's waiting for me when I die."

* * *

Okay, this took long enough to update, *sighs*. I can foresee this as becoming a bad habit, it doesn't mean I'm abandoning the fic, dear faithful readers, but I've just realized this year, what with school having started and all and it's my final year, I have a lot taking up my schedule. Not only do I need a ton of extra-curricular activities to look good on my resume, I also need to put in more than four hours a day to do homework and that basically leaves with three hours of free time for the weekdays excluding any special volunteering events I take part in. I don't know about you guys, but I would like using the only free time I have left after slaving on four hours of homework to just sit around and let my brain fart. Of course, seeing if that takes up an hour of my freetime, I'm left with only two hours, I could also have the weekend, but they're usually always booked with social activities... and so you see my problem in finding time for writing this fic. At the most I can usually write up half a page a day and I tend to at least like have over 5000 words for each update and that's about ten pages on Word, so yeah... there's my excuse, though I suppose I shouldn't be making up any excuses seeing how I as the author should just keep my mouth shut and just make time. ^_^

Well asides from my little rant, I guess you could say this chapter was slow as well and filled with too much exposition. You get Sephiroth's past, how magic works and how the Unknown work all in one chapter, hooray! Does that clear up anything at all? I have no idea, that's up for you readers to decide. Heh. On a side note, I also notice how much time it takes writing up responses to reviews and I've come to hard decision. While I love responding to reader reviews, I can't just do this individually anymore if you guys want faster updates. By not responding to each review I get I cut at least a day from my work and that gives you a fic a day earlier, doesn't that sound great?? Of course, those who do write reviews and post interesting speculations or questions will get them answered, though my responses will be very brief. I'm so sorry! If you guys really want me to continue responding to each of you individually then tell me and I'll keep it up, but know that by doing this, the fic will end up being a day later.

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Everyone who reviewed!!

Meiko, Ari Powwel, sore-wa-himitsu-desu, Koorino Megumi, Shinji Ikari, Shinjitsu and Victorious Light

Shinjitsu: Thanks for pointing out the little discrepency with Riku's keyblade and the Oblivion, but I'm very well aware of the fact that there's a difference and you'll see that this little factor will crop up sometime in the future. As for Kairi's staff, well I thought about the weapon she would use and I really couldn't see Kairi wielding a sword. A scythe would give her too much of a death image when I wanted her to seem like "light" and "life". Nunchucks would have worked, except I have little experience with how they work; I also considered bow and arrows,but they're more of a long range weapon (well unless you're extremely skilled like Legolas) and the battles in this fic and in the game itself have always been close range and I thought it'd be pretty boring to just have Kairi stand off to the side and shoot off arrows while Riku and Enigma did most of the dirty work. So my decision came down to the staff because 1) Tidus uses a shinai which is somewhat like a staff and so it wouldn't be hard for him to teach Kairi how to use one... 2) Kairi with a staff completes the magic user/wizard motiff I wanted her to have and 3) There is no number three, I just like listing things in three. ^_~. As for the Final Fantasy characters, well, there could be more, you can never be certain. 

Shinji: You'll receive an email soon on my response... or possibly we could discuss this through an alternative method.

So that's all for now folks, next chapter we'll be taking a look at just exactly how Sephiroth is released and more enigmatic (hee) hinting at who this Big Bad is. Don't you just love that?


	15. Make A Deal

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

** Chapter Fifteen: Make A Deal...**

The trio arrived at the bottom of the stone staircase and shuddered as a cold mist hovered over them, forming translucent hands that tried to snatch at their souls. Kairi let out a small gasp as one hand plunged into her chest and brushed against her heart. She felt sick and brought her hands to her mouth. Enigma came up to her and swiped at the unsteady hand, and the mist rolled by with a ghostly sigh. 

Kairi trembled and held onto Enigma's arm. Her knees were buckling, and she was ready to collapse. He glanced back at her once, concern on his face, but made no comment or any sort of attempt to force her to let go. Kairi regretted ever volunteering to go along and wished she could be back at Destiny Islands where she didn't have to worry about rivers filled with souls and fogs that tried to snatch at unwary mortals.

Enigma leaned forward until his lips were right beside her hair, and his breath caused Kairi to shiver. "I can open a portal and send you back if you want." 

She pulled away to stare at him and felt her heart flutter at his offer. Kairi was ready to cave into her fear and just say yes. Her lips felt dry, and when she looked into his eyes, she saw Sora. She remembered that the entire reason she was on this journey was so that she wouldn't be left behind just like before.

_This time… I'll fight._

Five years ago, when she'd watched as Sora, Donald and Goofy had left to save the worlds, she hadn't been able to help but feel so feeble. She had waited like a frail damsel for his return and, when things had seemed bleak, she had nearly lost hope in him. Kairi had been reunited with him only to be separated and forced to wait again, all because she hadn't known how to fight.

So she had had to wait half a decade, and now, with Enigma here, it seemed as if Sora's return was close. She had learned how to fight from Tidus, begged him to teach her how to use a sword since no one else had been available. Riku, the once acclaimed best swordsman of their island, had been gone too. She'd lost both of her best friends.

Tidus had never liked the idea of her using a sword and had opted for teaching her only on the condition that she'd use something less violent. She'd agreed and chosen a staff. It hadn't mattered to her what sort of weapon she used, just that it was one that would enable her to fight side by side with her friends. 

Shaking her head, Kairi looked Enigma in the eye. "I'm fine." She was surprised at how quiet her tone was, as if she were afraid to speak any louder and risk catching any unwanted attention. Straightening her shoulders in an act of bravado, she gave him a nod. "I want to stay here with you guys."

Enigma nodded, though her reassurances did nothing to lift the concern in his expression, but he trudged forward across the stone and stopped when he was a few feet ahead of them. Kairi noticed him staring at her and smiled meekly. She hurried to catch up when she felt a hand on her forearm. She turned to see Riku, wearing a grim expression. She knew something was on his mind.

"What is it?"

Riku slowly pulled his arm away, and his eyes darted towards Enigma, who had continued walking. When he was certain that Enigma wasn't watching them, Riku leaned forward. "Before we go on, I want you to have this." He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a brown paper bag. It was wrinkled from being handled too often. 

Kairi took the bag. She tightened her grip around it, and her hand came across a familiar shape. Her eyes widened as she realized what Riku had given her, and she quickly threw open the top of the bag. There glinting at her in the darkness of the cavern was the silver blade of a small dagger. She reached in and pulled it out, examining the tiny weapon, turning it by the handle to see its every feature. It had a curved blade that was pointed at the tip and a dull backside. She could tell that the weapon had been created to be held with ease since its black hilt had grooves to fit her fingers. 

"A knife?" she questioned.

"Well… I don't know what kind of weapon you _do_ use, and since you were going to come with us, I thought it'd be better if you were armed with at least something that could do a bit of damage," Riku explained. He frowned and took the bag from her. "There should at least be some sort of sheath. I bought one to go with it."

Riku searched inside the bag and found the small sheath, a plain black one, and handed it to her, looking back once again at Enigma who was even farther ahead. Kairi took the sheath and forced the dagger inside. She searched for a pocket that was big enough to hold the weapon, but settled for tucking it underneath her belt and pulling her top over it.

"Thank you… Riku," she said softly. It was the thought that counted, even if the gift itself was unusual and Kairi couldn't see herself ever needing the dagger when she had her staff. 

"No problem." Riku stared at her with a slight frown. "Where _is_ your weapon, by the way?"

"Somewhere… I really don't know about it, but Enigma taught me how to transform weapons and items into energy so it'd be easier to summon and dismiss them." She thought of Enigma's brief explanation of how summoning and dismissing weapons worked and remembered the many attempts she'd made before she was finally able to master the concept and was able to summon and dismiss her staff with ease.

Riku nodded and glanced over at Enigma. "I think we'd better go and catch up with him."

"Oh!" Kairi gasped when she saw the distance between them and Enigma. She shot off, running as fast as she could, and in a matter of seconds, she was right behind Enigma. Holding out a hand, Kairi grabbed onto his shirt, using him as a rest while at the same time stopping him from walking any farther. She took in a few deep breaths, and when her heart finally stopped pounding against her chest, she released her hold on Enigma.

"Why didn't you wait for us?" Her voice was half accusing and half playful.

"Wait for you? I didn't realize the two of you would take this long to talk." Enigma looked too amused for Kairi's liking.

Kairi scrunched her face at him but said nothing else, knowing that he had a point. They were on a mission, not at a social gathering, and in a place like this, the worst thing they could do would be to just stand around and talk, making it easier for whatever lurked in the shadows to leap at them. Enigma smiled slightly, and they continued on.

It only took them a few minutes of walking before they came reached the river that cut across the cavern. It was abnormal, illuminating a pale green from the light the damned souls gave off. When Kairi stared into the waters, she could see them float by, their sunken eyes staring straight at her before they'd pass and she'd see the lower half of their bodies like wispy tendrils of smoke. These people were shades of their former selves, cursed to float in this river for a reason she couldn't understand. 

"How awful," she murmured, trying not to imagine spending an eternity here.

"The river?" Enigma asked. He nodded and took out his Kingdom Key. Leaning forward, he held out the keyblade above the green water and watched as hands shot up to grab the weapon. Enigma made a single swipe with the keyblade and freed it from the ghostly hands. 

Enigma tilted his weapon towards him and examined it. Satisfied that there was no damage done to it, he dismissed the Kingdom Key and looked over towards Kairi and Riku. "We're going to need to find a safer passage across this river, maybe a bridge of some sort."

Riku shook his head. "There aren't any bridges around here. It would make it too easy for people to go in and out, and that's the last thing they want down here… The only way I know of is that ferryman, except last time I saw him… he was kinda going out for a swim."

Enigma frowned. "I suppose I'll have to resort to a quick teleportation then."

Kairi was opening her mouth to ask Enigma what he meant when the ground beneath her disappeared and she was swallowed into a bottomless shaft pulsating with purple veins. She screamed at the top of her lungs and floundered, trying to catch hold of something, but all she swiped at was air, and suddenly she hit the ground, her bare knees scraping against the stone. She bit down on her lip and held back an urge to whimper as the pain from her skinned legs flared. 

"Kairi." 

She looked up to see Enigma standing before her, his hand held out. Taking it, she allowed herself to be hoisted into a standing position. She looked around and saw that they were still in the cavern, but they were no longer where they'd been moments ago.

"What just happened?"

"I opened a portal beneath us and transported us to over here, the other side of the river," Enigma explained. "It's a quick teleportation technique… but a waste of energy."

Kairi nodded and absently smoothed her dress, looking around at her surroundings. Every square inch of this place was depressing. Riku, she noticed, was standing only a few feet away from them, his back turned as he too was studying the area. Kairi took a step forward and winced as the skin over her knees stretched the open wounds.

"Here," Enigma said, offering her a vial of potion. Kairi accepted it and downed the cool liquid. Immediately she could feel the magical effects of the potion beginning to work, and when she glanced down at her knees, the wounds were already gone. 

"Thank you," she said, smiling at Enigma, who acknowledged her gratitude with a nod.

"Riku," Enigma called out to their silver haired companion. The boy in question turned and looked back at them.

"What?"

"You've been here before, so you should know where we need to go."

Riku's gaze drifted to scan the cavern. "Not really. I had people guiding me before."

"I see." Enigma looked frustrated. For a moment, Kairi thought he'd make a slight jab at Riku for his lack of help, but he simply turned away from the silver haired boy and began walking towards the green river, watching as the souls passed.

An idea came to him then. "Which way did the river flow when you were at Hades' place?"

Riku looked quizzical for a moment before he understood what Enigma was getting at. "Southwards," he replied and refrained from adding what came after in his mind. _'I think.'_

"Then we head northwards," Enigma promptly said and began hiking in the opposite direction of the river's flow.

Both Kairi and Riku followed Enigma's lead, having complete faith in his sense of direction. As they continued, Riku found that certain landmarks were becoming familiar and commented on a few of them. He related the tales Persephone had told him to Kairi, who listened intently. She found most of the stories he told saddening, mainly because she couldn't pretend that they were just simple stories and because she knew that the people in these stories had once been real people and that they were somewhere around here in this gloomy world.

Ahead of them, Enigma halted.

Riku, who was in the middle of another story, trailed off, and the two stopped. Kairi noticed the alertness of Enigma's eyes and became concerned. "Enigma? What is it?"

"There's… someone behind us."

Slowly, Enigma turned, and both keyblades materialized. A hardened look came over his eyes as he slid into a defensive stance. Riku turned on his heel with his keyblades in hand, looking ready to leap forward and attack rather than to defend.

Kairi let her staff form in her hands and whirled around, ready to bring her weapon down on any enemy behind her. She let out a gasp as her gaze settled on the grotesque visage of an aged woman. The air seemed heavy with a foul stench that Kairi knew was emanating from the hag. The bent woman was wrapped in the rough fabric of a hooded cloak that did little to hide the cracked lines of her skin, which was green from decay and dotted with large mounds of moles and warts. The hag's nose was long and crooked, and only one eye peaked at Kairi from underneath her black hood--the other was an empty socket. Beside the woman were two others who were undoubtedly the hag's sisters. Both these two were similar in appearance, though both were eyeless and one of the three was shorter and chubbier than the other two. 

Bile rose from Kairi's stomach, and she could taste the bitter liquid in her mouth. She forced herself to swallow and steadied her shaking limbs. The witches seemed to smell her fear, and their green lips stretched in toothless smiles. The one with the single eye held Kairi's gaze and laughed. 

Enigma stepped in front of Kairi and held up a keyblade protectively. He didn't look at her, but Kairi caught the fierce determination that was on his face. "What do you want?"

"Such a rude little boy, not even asking for our names!" the one-eyed hag screeched. She held her hand to her chest, trying to look wounded. The woman laughed at her own attempt at humour, and the others joined in until the tallest one cleared her throat and quiet settled upon the trio of nightmares. 

The tall one stepped forward and pointed a bony finger at Enigma. "We know what you seek, and we know that you'll not find it… it'll find you."

"We know who you are," the shortest said. "And because of what you stand for, the sisters and I decided to grant you safe passage through the underworld."

Enigma's eyes narrowed. "And what do we owe you for such a gift?"

The one-eyed hag's smile grew wider. "Nothing, only that you succeed in your quest. We know everything, and we know that our futures will depend on you three."

"Wait!" Riku's eyes were wide with recognition. He pointed at the shortest hag and grew angry. "You're the one who-!"

"Have fun and remember to tell Hades that we sent you!" the short one quickly said, cutting Riku off. She snapped her fingers, and the three sisters disappeared. 

Kairi lurched forward, feeling nauseated. The sound of glass shattering made her jump, and she whirled about in the direction of the noise. Her eyes widened as she took in her surroundings and saw that they had changed. She was no longer in the gloomy depths of the underworld, but was inside a black hall. It was a throne room melded with a cavern. Black stalactites formed on the ceiling, and some had grown long enough to touch the black and white checker-pattern floor. Black pillars of granite held the ceiling up, and skeletons dressed in rusted armour were lined up against the grey walls. The room was lit by candles that peppered the hall, and their flames gave off a green illumination. At the far end was a pair of large double doors, and opposite of the doors was the throne.

Kairi's eyes landed on the broken wine glass on the floor, which was surrounded by a puddle of red liquid. Her gaze travelled farther up, taking in the wispy hem of a black robe worn by a grey-skinned being that was human in form. Kairi knew immediately that she was in the presence of Hades, the lord of the dead. His hand was clenched in an angry first as he glowered at them from his twisted ebony throne, high up on a dais. The blue flame on his head turned red. He looked ready to pounce at them, but was visibly restraining himself. The god took in one deep breath, and his flame turned blue. 

"Riku, Riku, Riku," the god said as he stood. "I see you came back for round two… and you brought your pals with you."

Riku stepped in front of Kairi, hiding her from the dark lord. "I didn't come here to play games, Hades."

The god cupped his chin with one long hand as he walked forward and slowly began circling them. "Lemme guess… you came here for another 'deal'. You wanna release another soul?"

Riku smirked as he held up the Oblivion. "Yeah, a deal. You give us the answers we want, and we might not hurt you."

  
The god stopped beside a pillar and leaned against it with one hand. "Answers, huh? What makes you think that I even have any… in fact… what makes you think I'll tell you anything?" 

The god pushed away from the pillar. "Hey, I just realized something. You kiddies are in my domain now, and what I say here is law. Soooooo…I say eternal damnation sounds like a good sentence."

Kairi looked at Enigma and Riku, and though their faces were unreadable, she knew from past experience that on the forefront of their minds was action. She also knew that a violent act wouldn't go over too well with the god of the dead. She had to do something quickly before the boys did, and her mind raced to find a way to stop the impending battle.

"Wait!" she blurted and caught the attention of not only the god, but also the two boys. She felt her cheeks warming, but she pushed aside her embarrassment and stepped past the protection of Riku and Enigma.

The lord of the dead quirked an eyebrow. He was obviously not expecting a challenge from someone like Kairi. "Yeah? Wait what?" 

Riku sidled up to her with his weapons still raised. "What are you up to?" he hissed.

"Gimme a moment," she whispered and then brought her attention to the god. "Um… we were sent here--by these three women, they told us to tell you this."

Hades folded his arms and gave her a blank look. When he had been silent for more than a few moments, Kairi realized that her strategy wasn't going to work, and her gaze shifted from side to side to the two boys beside her, knowing that she would have to depend on them if things started to spiral out of hand. A frustrated sigh brought Kairi's attention to the god, who threw his hands into the air and walked straight back to his throne. He plopped into his seat and began tapping the armrest with his forefinger, giving Kairi an irritated stare.

The god abruptly stopped his tapping and leaned forward, bringing his hands together with only the fingertips touching. He held Kairi's gaze. "So lemme get this straight, these three ladies-did they happen to be old and decrepit and all around nasty looking?"

She nodded dumbly, not knowing how else to describe the three women. The god's black lips pursed into thin lines as he leaned back. "Right right, okay, this… is just… GREAT!" He shot up from his seat, and the blue flame above his head flared, turning red and spreading about his shoulders. His face took on a red tinge that matched the flame about his body. His long hands were clenched as he opened his mouth and screamed. Kairi jumped when a pillar of fire erupted around the god's body and shot through the air. A blast blew out most of the candles, and when the fires dissipated, the god stood before them, appearing calm and wearing a forced smile. 

"All right, so the Fates sent you three, and obviously they took a liking to you twerps, so just ask your damned questions and get outta my face." The smile on Hades' face disappeared, and he sat back down on his throne. His lips twisted into a sneer as he stared down at the three.

Kairi, not knowing how stiff and tense she'd been, realized how much her muscles were aching from standing in the same position for too long and shifted her weight from one foot to another. She waited for either Enigma or Riku to take the spotlight, and when only silence answered Hades, she raised her eyebrows and looked to both boys and saw that they were looking back at her expectantly. Her face flushed. "Oh um… me?" she stuttered.

Riku smirked, and while he was clearly amused, Enigma's blank expression could have meant just about anything, though Kairi could tell that he was expecting her to take the reigns as well. She felt nervousness flutter in her stomach and for a moment forgot why exactly they'd descended into Hades' domain, but the reason came back to her almost immediately as it left.

"It's about Sephiroth!" Kairi exclaimed. She winced at the volume of her voice.

With one eyebrow raised, Hades nodded. "Mmmhmmm… and what about the one-winged freak?" 

Kairi took a moment to organize her thoughts before she spoke. "He's alive… but he was dead before, and people don't just spring up from the dead without your express consent… right?"

The god inclined his head in agreement. "Right."

"But uh, well, we want to know why you'd just let him live again…" Kairi didn't bother to raise her voice, knowing that the god had already caught onto her question immediately after she'd blurted out the name 'Sephiroth'. He was simply enjoying her squirming, and this angered her. She tensed and gave the god a scowl but saw that Hades seemed amused at her anger. His amusement just made her angrier.

"You know…you kinda remind me of my wife," the god observed and caught the shock in Kairi's eyes. She was obviously surprised at the fact that someone like him could be married. "You'd probably like her if you met her, but yeah, anyway, ol' Sephy, huh?"

Kairi tried not to let the god to see her agitation as she nodded stiffly. "Yes, Sephiroth, like I said before."

"Yeah, I let him go, though he came in here about five years ago, so I bet the body was a rotting mess. Guess that didn't matter to the guy who wanted him free."

"So there was someone else?" Enigma questioned.

The god looked irritated at Enigma's intrusion on what he seemed to think was a private conversation and rolled his eyes. "Well duh. I don't know what you think of me, but I am _not_ the type to just let my souls free on a regular basis and especially not Sephiroth. I mean, that guy's a real keeper." 

Kairi saw the mild flicker of impatience in Enigma's eyes and knew that he was getting tired of the god's babbling. "Just who approached you?" he demanded, cutting the god off before he could speak any further.

Hades shrugged. "How should I know? One day I was planning to overthrow Olympus, and suddenly some weird voice popped up inside my head asking for Sephiroth's soul."

Riku looked sceptical. "And you just let him go?" 

Hades knew what Riku was implying and snorted as he leaned against his armrest with one elbow propped against the chair and his cheek resting against his fist. "I'm not an idiot, kiddo. I've been around the block more than a few millennia, and I know Mr. Mysterious-Voice-Inside-My-Head is big time. And from the way the dude was going on about 'The Gathering', I figured he was part of the NEO." 

Enigma's eyes widened, and without another word he whirled around and hastened his way across the room. With one hand he shoved the large double doors open, and he disappeared behind them. Silence hung in the hall, and Kairi looked at Riku, as if expecting an answer from him. The boy merely shrugged, appearing as bewildered as she. 

Riku stepped closer to her, grabbed her arm and began walking in the direction Enigma had gone. "Come on, we can't lose sight of him." His pace quickened, and Kairi nearly slipped as her legs worked to keep up with Riku. 

Hades watched the two leave. "Did I say something wrong?" he called out after them Their reply was the sound of the double doors slamming shut. A cigar formed in the open palm of Hades' hand, and he stuffed the end of it into his mouth, biting down on it and relishing the taste of a sinful object that was known to take years off a mortal man's life. "Make a deal with the devil, and you'll get burned."

***

It was low tide, and the black waters of the ocean had receded, but this ocean was a dead one that was bereft of any sea life. There were no seastars or elaborate shells decorating the unveiled shoreline. However, the sandy beach was not empty of ocean deluge. Clear bottles were scattered about--some contained seawater and the soggy remnants of messages, and others were simply empty.

Sephiroth strolled forward and kicked at a bottle that was at his feet. Ahead he could see his target, and his gloved hand drifted towards his Masamune. It stopped short of resting on his blade and fell back to his side. Another bottle obstructed his path, and he stepped over it. 

_He_ stood on the shoreline, the muddy sand clinging to his boots, but he seemed oblivious to Sephiroth's presence. This being was cloaked in a hooded jacket that reached his ankles and seemed to be enjoying the ocean breeze. Sephiroth stood behind him, waiting for acknowledgement. Movement caught the one-winged angel's attention, and he watched as the glass bottles floated into the air and were hurled towards the sea. He knew it was the doing of the one before him, but he could not fathom the reason why. 

Sephiroth's gaze travelled to the horizon. It was a clear night, and a bright moon hung in the sky, but there was no indication of stars, and he knew that this world was not natural. He wondered how he had gotten here and wondered where _here_ was.

_You are in the Forgotten World where all that is lost will eventually make its way. _

Sephiroth knew the origin of the voice and knew that he was not really hearing it. His gaze drifted over to the one before him, and he saw that the being had not moved an inch since he had arrived.

_I have a task for you._

"What is it?" 

_It involves a man known as Ansem…_

* * *

Wow... an actual update! Apologies for the four month hiatus. I was just going through a tough time... well not really, but I was really depressed with this fic for quite a while, but thanks to a certain special reviewer, I kinda realized that I do like writing this fic and that I do want to continue it. You guys all have Yutaan to thank for this update. ^_^ 

I do have to admit that this chapter was rather fun to write, I dunno... I guess it's just Hades, he's a fun character, though I'm pretty certain that I haven't really quite captured his personality correctly, but this is the best I can do. Interesting turn of events hmm? Ponder away at will! 

SPECIAL THANKS TO: 

Aramer, Yutaan, Dagas, Elfgoddess, Draven, Victorious Light, sore-wa-himitsu-desu, Megumi, Meiko and Ari for reviewing!! 

And of course, thank you to Megs for beta reading. ^_^ 

Ah yes, and because I have no shame, I wanna advertise my new KH message board: Hearts of Paradise, you can find the link in my profile. JOIN NOW!! 

Tune in next time to read more on the whacky adventures of our favourite trio! 


	16. Echoes of Truth

**Behind the Darkness**

By: Naela

Summary: A being tied to Sora is awakening and now more than ever the Keyblade Master is needed. Only, no one seems to know where he is. How are Riku and Kairi tied into all of this and who are the Non-Existent Ones?

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. They're all property of Squaresoft and Disney.

* * *

**Chapter Sixteen: Echoes of Truth**

Beyond the doors of the throne room was a hall of a design that was an abnormal melding of castle and cavern. The ceiling, like the throne room, was rocky and black with smooth stalactites that hung low enough for any passer-by to easily walk into if she wasn't careful. Kairi found herself ducking multiple times in order to avoid banging her head against the jagged spikes.

Ahead of her was Riku, and somewhere in this palace was Enigma. Something that Hades had said had caused him to run off. Seeing him flee without another word was something that made Kairi worry.

Kairi paused when she thought she heard a sound. Her eyes scanned the hall, and she found nothing out of the ordinary. She felt slightly relieved, but her fear still remained. At every turn she half-expected some malicious creature to leap forward and attack her. How Riku or Enigma could be so calm in this place was beyond her, but if they continued to trudge forward, then she would follow. She wasn't going to be left behind--never again.

Riku stopped when something ahead had caught his attention. "Enigma!"

At the mention of his name, Enigma turned, and hefrowned as the pair ran towards him. Kairi caught a glimpse of him over Riku's shoulder, and although she was worried, she started to grin. He carried that same blank expression as usual, apparently no longer bothered by whatever had made him run before.

Enigma waited for Riku and Kairi at a corner. When the two reached him, Riku shot Enigma an irritated glare. "Thanks for waiting for us. What was that all about back there?"

Enigma turned away. "It was nothing."

Riku rolled his eyes and stepped in front of Enigma to block his path. "That's not going to work. What is it?"

There was silence as Enigma stared at Riku, all the while fighting to rein back the storm of emotions that was raging within him. The confidence that Riku boasted was the final nail, and Enigma shoved past the boy, propelling Riku backwards. Silently Enigma stalked the halls ahead as Riku stumbled and caught onto the wall. Kairi stood, watching Enigma leave, and felt her heart race.

Kairi stepped forward, stopping beside Riku. "Enigma!"

He was already several meters away, but the steps he took were slower compared to the speed Kairi was accustomed to watching him walk at. He stopped in mid-stride and tilted his head in her direction. Kairi gave Riku one final glance before running to Enigma's side. She came to a halt when she was a few paces away from him and held her hands together near her waist, unsure of what to do with them.

Enigma was always like a stonewall, impenetrable with no method of getting through, but there were also always those cracks, the subtle weaknesses that made him so easy for Kairi to read. When she looked into his eyes, she saw the emotions that he was trying to sort--foreign emotions that scared him.

Kairi lowered her eyes and tried her best to smile. "Please…" She found herself unable to give words to her feelings.

"Kairi."

She looked up and caught his gaze. There'd been no real visible change over his demeanour, but Kairi could see that he was calm now. His gaze pulled away from hers and was directed over her shoulders, meaning Riku was most likely behind her. She glanced back to see Riku watching her closely. There was no anger in his eyes when he looked at her--simply disappointment. Riku smiled when she looked at him, but there was no emotion behind his smile.

Riku stepped beside Kairi and brought his attention to Enigma. "Well? Spill it? Something about a gathering and neo?"

"N-E-O," Enigma corrected him. Riku rolled his eyes heavenward. Without waiting to hear whatever cynical retort Riku had on the tip of his tongue, Enigma continued, "It stands for Non-Existent One."

Recognition dawned in Riku's eyes. "You told me about them before."

"Right, back in the Forgotten World…" There was a distant look in Enigma's eyes as he recalled the conversation. "You also told me of how you thought Heartless were born, which was incorrect."

"Huh?"

Enigma shook his head. "Never mind… just know that there are certain cases with certain people when they undergo a change, or a 'metamorphosis' to put it more dramatically--they become something more. The change from living to Heartless, for example--the heart is consumed by the darkness, and both body and soul are lost."

"But there are cases where the body exists without the heart," Riku murmured.

Kairi turned to stare at him, and even Enigma seemed surprised. "How in the world do you know that?" she asked.

For a moment, Riku didn't seem to hear her. He had the look of a man whose mind was off in another world. Kairi became worried and reached out to touch him on the shoulder. Her hand brushed against his arm, jolting him back to reality. He nearly jumped, and his sudden alertness caused both Enigma and Kairi to take a step back in precaution.

"What? Oh, um, I read about it, back in Hollow Bastion. Ansem's Thirteenth Report…"

Kairi flinched at the mention of Ansem and nodded. Aerith had mentioned about how extensive Hollow Bastion's library was and that it'd been Ansem who'd gathered the books together. It wouldn't surprise her if she went into the library and found a few books written by the sage himself.

"Okay, so the NEO are like shells?" Kairi asked.

Enigma gave Riku one final disapproving look before pulling his attention towards Kairi. "Yes, they have no hearts."

"And since the Unknown are shells, that means the NEO and the Unknown are the same," Kairi surmised.

A corner of Enigma's lips twitched, and he slowly shook his head. "Very close, but there's just a few differences between the NEO and the Unknown… The NEO are shells that have wills of their own. They're ancient beings. The Unknown are shells as well, but in some cases they aren't. Shells or not, the Unknown do not have any free will of their own."

Kairi's eyes flicked from Enigma to Riku. "So what are you and Riku? Unknown or NEO?"

Enigma blinked several times, taken aback by her question. He looked over at Riku and met his questioning gaze. There was a long silence as he considered the answer, and finally he shook his head. "I… don't know."

The trio remained silent as they pondered the question. Unable to ascertain an answer, Riku shook his head. He looked over towards Enigma, and another question came to mind, one that had been bothering him since they'd left the throne room.

"You haven't told us why you just ran off."

Enigma's eyes were to the ground as Riku regarded him. For a long moment, Enigma looked as if he were considering what to say. "Hades said that it was someone from the NEO who approached him." Enigma shook his head and then smiled as if laughing at himself.

"Hades could be lying," Kairi pointed out.

Enigma shrugged. "He could be… or he could be telling the truth."

Sensing his agitation, Kairi laid a hand on his arm and saw him relax again. He looked at her hand for a moment, but said nothing. He didn't meet her gaze, but there was a barely perceptible smile on his face. It was a nice feeling to know that she had the power to temporarily alleviate his fears. Kairi caught movement from the corner of her eye and saw Riku looking at his hands. Reluctantly, Kairi pulled her hand away.

Riku looked up and let his hands drop to his side. "Should we go back and get the information from Hades?" he asked.

Kairi waited for Enigma to make his decision. It would be ultimately up to him on what they should or shouldn't do. She saw that he was staring at Riku, most likely thinking over the suggestion, turning it over in his mind and weighing the pros and cons. Enigma looked very much like Sora whenever he was confused. Thinking of all those times when Sora would try to make a decision and come up with a blank made her turn away from the two boys to hide her widening grin.

"No."

Kairi quickly buried her mirth and turned back to the boys. It'd been Enigma who had spoken.

"Whatever we ask him could come out as a lie. It'd be a waste of time."

"So what now? We go back to Hollow Bastion?" Riku asked.

Enigma nodded and pulled out the Oathkeeper. The weapon spun in his hand before his grip settled firmly around its hilt. Light motes shimmered from the keyblade and faded away when they hit the ground. Enigma pointed his weapon ahead of him, and a thin thread of energy jumped from the key, flying several meters ahead and then spreading upwards and stopping short of the ceiling. The energy began to push outwards, forcing a rift to form, and when the light faded, the huge tear in space was large enough to allow all three to pass at once.

Lowering the Oathkeeper, Enigma looked back at Riku and Kairi. They began moving towards the rift, Riku passing with a simple nod at him and disappearing. Kairi followed. She paused, looking back to see that Enigma was still there, and when she was reassured that he was right behind her, she entered the darkness.

_It was cold, but he did not feel the cold. He only felt pain. It wasn't physical pain. No, that could have been remedied with a few cure spells. This pain that he felt deep inside, that ached and made him feel so hollow, couldn't be easily cured._

_Sephiroth didn't move. All strength had been drained from him. Now he was just an animated doll that walked and spoke when it was required of him. All of the adults had left him alone, forgotten the small child, and Sephiroth had managed to escape the crowds of pretenders. They didn't care as much as he did._

_Why wouldn't it stop hurting?_

_A blast of cold wind stung his face. He held his hands over his ears, feeling the bite of the cold most strongly there. With the howling of the wind coupled with his hands over his ears, he never heard the approaching footsteps. Someone tapped him lightly on his right shoulder, and he sighed. He looked back, expecting to see an adult ready to berate him. He managed to smile when he saw that it was Cloud. _

_"Hey," Cloud greeted. _

_"Hey…"_

_Cloud stood there awkwardly, his hands clenching and relaxing. Sephiroth, even at his young age, could readily read body language with ease and knew that Cloud was waiting for Sephiroth to accept him. The silver haired boy gestured for Cloud to sit beside him. Cloud slowly moved to the edge of the balcony and sat. He, like Sephiroth, had no fear of falling._

The wind continued to howl, and Cloud shivered, wrapping his arms around him. Sephiroth felt a twinge of guilt. Cloud noticed his stares and threw his hands to his sides. As always, Cloud wanted to prove that he was just as tough, if not tougher than Sephiroth. It almost made him laugh.

_"Hey Seph… you okay?"_

_Sephiroth saw the genuine look of concern on Cloud's face. It was a level of caring that no one else had shown him in these past few days. Knowing that there was at least one person who cared for him in this world…it made him happy._

_"Yeah, I'm okay. Just kinda tired."_

_"And cold?" Cloud asked with a slight curve of his lips. _

_Sephiroth managed to laugh. "No, you big baby. If you're cold, then why don't you just go back inside?"_

_"I'm not cold!"_

"Yeah right. Don't blame me if you catch some fatal disease up here."

_Cloud shot up and scowled. "I won't because I'm not gonna catch anything!" _

_In his angry tirade, Cloud never noticed his footing, but Sephiroth noticed._

_"Cloud!"_

_His outburst had been meant to warn the boy, but it only served to startle Cloud. Sephiroth felt as if time had slowed just for him to watch his best friend, his brother, fall to his death. The horror that was on Cloud's face when he realized that he was going to fall was burned forever onto his mind. The boy cried out, flailing his arms, and Sephiroth, for a split second, could do nothing but watch. _

_"Sephy!"_

_Cloud's voice made something inside of him snap. He leapt forward, catching Cloud's outstretched hand. He fell onto his stomach and nearly slid over the edge as Cloud's weight dragged him down. _

_I can't let him die!_

_Sephiroth grabbed onto Cloud's outstretched arm with his other hand and began pulling him up. All his grief, all his sorrow and fears welled up as he strained to heave the boy up. His face was turning red at the effort. "You idiot!" he hollered. _

_The boy winced. "I'm sorry!" _

_When Cloud was at level with the balcony, he managed to haul himself over the edge. Sephiroth was still gripping onto Cloud's hand tightly, glaring at him. "How could you be so stupid!?"_

_"I…"_

_Angry tears welled in Sephiroth's eyes as he tightened his hold on Cloud's hand. "You could have died! I would have--" _

_--Been left alone._

"All alone." He mouthed the words.

His eyes opened as he felt the cold. He looked down to see the familiar shape of his home become larger and larger as he descended from the sky. His large black wing, coupled with certain forms of magic, kept him from plummeting to his death, but it was his own will that kept the cold nonexistent, just as he'd always done in the past.

He wondered if Cloud would sense him again this time. He was a master at masking his own presence from others, but there was something between him and Cloud. It was an odd connection, one that had survived all the betrayals and pains of the past.

Landing on the balcony, Sephiroth tucked his wing and watched as his black feathers were picked up by the wind. He smiled as he headed for the stairwell, one hand resting on the Masamune.

Home again.

Their return had been heralded with various forms of "welcome back" and "good to see you again!" Kairi had been the one who relayed the story to Squall, being careful to exclude certain parts she didn't deem necessary to recount. After that was over, the trio was free to do as they pleased. Kairi had immediately whisked Enigma away, and Riku had been left on his own.

Riku returned to his room in order to relax. It was still in the same state of disarray as he'd left it in before. He considered cleaning the mess and realized that he really didn't want to do anything. The idea of Enigma and Kairi being together crushed the energy Riku had left. The boy sat on the edge of his bed and thought of sleeping, but while he felt too tired to do anything, he was also wide-awake. Hundreds of thoughts of Kairi were streaming through his mind.

The boy toyed with the idea of him being in place of Enigma, kissing Kairi in the library, holding her hand on the balcony. Unlike Enigma he would have appreciated her affections, and he would have returned them with no hesitation.

Riku scowled at his thoughts. So many years had passed since he'd realized he cared for Kairi as more than just a friend. He wanted her to love him, but it'd always been someone else--no, not just someone else, it'd always been Sora. It'd always been Sora who caught her attention, and it was Sora and Sora only who Kairi loved.

Riku's gaze drifted over to the armchair, sitting upright and pushed against the wall.

_Think about your feelings carefully._

There was no need to consider whether or not he loved Kairi. It was only a question of whether or not he was willing to simply let go. He stood, letting his irritation roll off him, and headed for the door. He'd go some place else and do something else that wouldn't require too much thinking. Maybe he should just talk to someone who would understand. He thought of Aerith and wondered where she would be. She liked books and so he decided to head for the library.

Finding it wasn't too difficult; Riku was beginning to familiarize himself with the halls of Hollow Bastion. He entered through the upper level and found it empty, a book laid open on one of the tables. Its brown pages were wrinkled, and the words were written by hand and not printed through a machine. He frowned, realizing that he was becoming too interested in a stupid book, and pulled his gaze away from it. Riku headed for the railing and swept his eyes over the lower level, but saw no sign of the woman in pink.

"Aerith?" he called out, hoping that she might be hidden behind a shelf. There was silence.

His gaze settled on the fallen shelves that had never been righted--the remaining traces of his battle with Sephiroth. He looked away and brought a hand to his heart. He still bore the scar from that battle. Looking back on it now, he realized just how much of an idiot he'd been to think that he was actually strong enough to take on someone like Sephiroth.

_You survived his attacks, and that is all that matters in the end._

Riku scowled, but it was Ansem who merely brushed away his irritation. It was because of Ansem that he had nearly slipped last time. He'd managed to force Ansem into silence at the time. The sage had seen the logic in remaining quiet and not revealing himself to the others. Now, with no one around, there was no need to remain cautious.

"I don't need you to patronize me," Riku growled. "Why can't you just shut up?"

It was my knowledge and my help that aided you several times in the past.

"I think I would have been better off without your help," the boy muttered. He looked back over to the railing to ensure that there was no one about to listen to his conversation. When he felt safe, he moved towards the table, his eyes landing once again on the book.

Interesting.

"What is?"

The book you see before you is mine. I had scattered its pages across the worlds to prevent others from gaining access to my knowledge.

"Your journal?" Riku questioned. He moved towards a chair and sat, noticing for a moment that it was still warm. Someone must have been reading Ansem's journal moments earlier. He picked up the leather bound book and tried the best he could to make out the sage's writing. Riku had never read any of the man's works, but every word felt oddly familiar. He supposed it was some side effect of having two minds in the same body. It made sense that if Ansem could access his memories, then Riku should be able to do the same.

Once again, Keyblade Master, you've presumed wrongly.

Riku clamped down his urge to roll his eyes and went back to reading the journal. The beginning was boring; there were only entries on how Ansem's days had gone. Then there was something about Sephiroth and Maleficent. He was somewhat surprised to learn that Sephiroth had been a general of Ansem's army. Occasionally, Riku would pause in his reading and wonder if the man who'd written these words was the same man who was occupying his body.

He'd been halfway through the journal when he came across the reports. It was almost amusing to read Ansem's over-excited thoughts at being able to learn something new or when he was about to come across a breakthrough.

'Those who lack hearts... I will call them the Heartless.'

Riku's fingers tightened around the edges of the book. Ansem, the father of all Heartless, sharing _his_ body. This new tidbit of information explained why he could suddenly command the Heartless, but to have someone like Ansem inside him all the time… Riku scowled. This was why he could never tell his friends. They would only hate him.

'The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power. One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says that he wrought chaos and ruin upon it.'

"That's me, isn't it?" Riku asked. He shut the book and let it drop on the table. Loose papers flew from the table and fluttered to the ground.

"I'm that Keyblade Master that stupidly let darkness into his heart and brought chaos and ruin to every world I visited." 

There is more than one Keyblade Master.

"But Sora saved the worlds!"

And now you are saving worlds.

"Shut up!" Riku shot up, throwing his hands over his ears.

Deny the truth as you will, but the possibility still exists.

"I don't want to hear this!" Riku screamed. He kicked the chair away and turned to leave the library. He came to a halt when his eyes fell upon the exit. There stood Aerith, one hand held over her mouth. The shock in her gaze was all too clear.

Riku squeezed his eyes shut and waited for her to speak.

* * *

Hmmm yes, it's been a while, a very long while. All I really have nothing to say in my defence save for what I already wrote in my profile. This chapter's dedicated to all of you who have stuck for all the way. It really means a lot to me. 


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